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HR & civil liberties in the US


September 2023

Fichero AudioUsa/Ukr - Biden's proxy war in Ukraine at a critical point. (Excerpts from Seymour Hersh's article "Zelensky's 'Bad Moment'"). Radio Nizkor, 23Sep23.

Seymour Hersh published on September 21, 2023 an article entitled "Zelensky's 'Bad Moment,'" which we have excerpted to prepare this program.

Hersh is an American investigative journalist and political writer. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker and The New York Times and established himself at the forefront of investigative journalism in 1970 when he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize (as a freelancer) for his exposé of the massacre in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. Since then he has received numerous awards.

As he begins this article, Hersh has in mind the upcoming anniversary of the Biden administration’s destruction of three of the four pipelines of Nord Stream 1 and 2 on September 26. He has more to add on the subject, but says that he will have to wait because the war between Russia and Ukraine, with the White House continuing to reject any talk of a cease-fire, is at a turning point, and now is the time to explain why.

"There are significant elements in the American intelligence community, relying on field reports and technical intelligence, who believe that the demoralized Ukraine army has given up on the possibility of overcoming the heavily mined three-tier Russian defense lines and taking the war to Crimea and the four oblasts seized and annexed by Russia. The reality is that Volodymyr Zelensky’s battered army no longer has any chance of a victory.

The war continues, I have been told by an official with access to current intelligence, because Zelensky insists that it must. There is no discussion in his headquarters or in the Biden White House of a ceasefire and no interest in talks that could lead to an end to the slaughter. “It’s all lies,” the official said, speaking of the Ukrainian claims of incremental progress in the offensive that has suffered staggering losses...

A byproduct of the Biden administration’s neocon hostility to Russia and China—exemplified by the remarks of Secretary of State Tony Blinken, who has repeatedly stated that he will not currently countenance a ceasefire in Ukraine—has been a significant split in the intelligence community. One casualty are the secret National Intelligence Estimates that have delineated the parameters of American foreign policy for decades. Some key offices in the CIA have refused, in many cases, to participate in the NIE process because of profound political disagreement with the administration’s aggressive foreign policy...

I have reported for many weeks on the longstanding disagreement between the CIA and other elements of the intelligence community on the prognosis of the current war in the Ukraine.

CIA analysts have consistently been far more skeptical than their counterparts at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on the prospect for a Ukraine success...

File name Mp3 format Duration Language
🔊 usaukr 00:11:18 ENG


May 2023

Fichero AudioUSA/Esp/Can - La administración Biden, con el apoyo de Justin Trudeau y de Pedro Sánchez, intenta mofificar el derecho de asilo. Radio Nizkor, 16may23.

El Gobierno de Biden publicó el 10may23 la versión final de una nueva reglamentación que impone una prohibición casi total del asilo en la frontera Sur de Estados Unidos.

Los cambios llegan con el fin de las restricciones que se conocen como Título 42, una normativa de emergencia sanitaria que la administración Trump comenzó a aplicar en marzo de 2020 con el argumento de prevenir la propagación del COVID-19 y que terminó su vigencia el 11may23.

A partir de ahora, la administración Biden rechazará a cualquier persona que solicite asilo y que no haya buscado primero protección en un país por el que haya viajado, o que lo haya solicitado de antemano por Internet. Se trata de una versión de una política similar de la administración Trump que fue anulada por los tribunales.

"Nos decepciona profundamente que la administración Biden haya decidido seguir adelante con su prohibición de asilo, en clara violación del derecho interno e internacional...", declaró Karen Musalo, directora del Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, con sede en la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de California, San Francisco. "Las personas que huyen de la persecución tienen derecho a solicitar asilo, y nuestras leyes no exigen que lo hagan en países de tránsito, o que sólo entren por los puertos de entrada. Esto es una abdicación de nuestras obligaciones legales y morales con los refugiados".

El mismo 11may23, la American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), la ACLU del Norte de California, el Center for Gender & Refugee Studies y el National Immigrant Justice Center presentaron un recurso contra la nueva normativa de prohibición de asilo. El escrito presentado argumenta que la legislación sobre asilo no permite a la administración restringir el acceso al asilo en función de la forma de entrada de una persona o de si solicitó asilo en otro lugar.

Estados Unidos planea abrir 100 centros regionales de migración por todo el Hemisferio Occidental, así lo explican los Departamentos de Estado y de Interior en una Hoja Informativa difundida el 28abr23: Estados Unidos está aunando esfuerzos con socios occidentales con, entre otros, el propósito de abrir Centros Regionales de Procesamiento ("RPC") en el Hemisferio Occidental. "Los primeros centros se instalarán en varios países de la región, como Colombia y Guatemala. Las personas de la región podrán hacer una cita desde su teléfono para visitar el RPC más próximo antes de viajar, obtener una entrevista con especialistas en inmigración y, si reúnen los requisitos, ser procesadas de manera rápida para acceder a vías legales a Estados Unidos, Canadá y España". El Gobierno de Biden consideró la posibilidad de detener a las familias hasta que superaran las pruebas iniciales de asilo, pero en su lugar habría optado por los toques de queda, cuya aplicación estaría prevista de 11 de la noche a 5 de la mañana...

Precisamente el 12may23, horas después de que terminara la vigencia del llamado Título 42, el presidente Joe Biden recibió al presidente del Gobierno español, Pedro Sánchez, en la Casa Blanca. Los esfuerzos de Estados Unidos y España para cooperar en la aplicación de esta política ocuparon un lugar destacado de la reunión. "Ambos nos enfrentamos a los retos de la migración en el Hemisferio Occidental", dijo Biden a Sánchez al inicio de la reunión en el Despacho Oval, y elogió al presidente Pedro Sánchez por su colaboración en materia de migración.

Por su parte, desde la ACLU insisten en que el cambio propuesto se basa en una política de la era Trump que esta organización combatió en los tribunales y que el presidente Biden había condenado anteriormente. También supone una violación directa de las leyes de asilo de Estados Unidos y hará que las personas que huyen de la violencia y la persecución se enfrenten a un daño evitable.

Se desconocen aún las funciones, el marco legal, cómo se financiarán y el emplazamiento de tales centros de procesamiento...

Traducción al español de las versiones originales de las distintas fuentes en inglés realizada por el Equipo Nizkor.

File name Mp3 format Duration Language
🔊 asylum 00:24:22 ESL/SPA



February 2016

Fichero AudioSau/Usa/Syr - Les États-Unis comptent largement sur l'argent saoudien pour soutenir les rebelles syriens. (The New York Times). Radio Nizkor, 09fév16

"Lorsque le président Obama a, en 2013, autorisé secrètement la CIA à commencer à fournir des armes aux rebelles engagés dans les combats en Syrie, l'agence de renseignements savait qu'elle disposerait d'un partenaire disposé à aider à financer cette action clandestine. Ce partenaire était le même que celui sur lequel comptait la CIA depuis des décennies pour l'argent et la discrétion concernant des conflits lointains : le Royaume d'Arabie saoudite.

Depuis lors, la CIA et son homologue saoudien maintiennent un arrangement inhabituel à propos de la mission d'entraînement des rebelles, dont le nom de code donné par les Américains est Timber Sycamore. Selon cet accord, d'après des représentants de l'administration anciens et actuels, les Saoudiens fournissent à la fois des armes et de grandes sommes d'argent, et la CIA prend en charge la formation des rebelles...

Outre les énormes réserves de pétrole que possède l'Arabie saoudite et son rôle dans l'ancrage spirituel du monde sunnite, la longue relation entretenue par les services de renseigenement des deux pays aide à comprendre pourquoi les États-Unis se sont montrés réticents à critiquer ouvertement l'Arabie saoudite pour ses violations des droits de l'homme, le traitement qu'elle réserve aux femmes et son soutien au wahhabisme, branche extrême de l'islam, dont se sont inspirés la plupart des groupes terroristes que les États-Unis combattent...

Des fonctionnaires américains n'ont pas révélé le montant de la contribution saoudienne, qui est de loin la plus élevée qu'un pays tiers ait apportée au programme d'armement des rebelles contre l'armée du président Bashar al-Assad. Mais des estimations élèvent à plusieurs milliards de dollars le coût total de l'armement et de la formation...

Lorsqu'Obama a autorisé l'armement des rebelles au printemps 2013, c'était en partie pour prendre le contrôle de l'apparente débâcle qui régnait dans la région. Les Qataris et les Saoudiens faisaient passer des armes en Syrie depuis plus d'un an. Les Qataris avaient même introduit clandestinement des cargaisons des missiles portatifs FN-6 chinois depuis la Turquie...

Les Qataris ont également contribué au financement de l'entraînement des rebelles et ont autorisé qu'une de leurs bases soit employée comme lieu de formation supplémentaire. Mais des représentants américains ont confirmé que l'Arabie saoudite était de loin le plus gros contributeur à cette opération..."

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
saudi2 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:08:08 FRA



Fichero AudioSau/Usa/Syr - Estados Unidos se apoya principalmente en dinero saudí para respaldar a los rebeldes sirios. (The New York Times). Radio Nizkor, 09feb16

"Cuando el presidente Obama autorizó secretamente a la Agencia Central de Inteligencia para que ésta empezara a armar a los asediados rebeldes sirios en 2013, la agencia sabía que podría contar con un decidido socio que le ayudara a financiar la operación encubierta. Se trataba del mismo socio en cuyo dinero y discreción llevaba décadas apoyándose: el Reino de Arabia Saudí.

Desde entonces, la CIA y su contraparte saudí han mantenido un insólito acuerdo de cara a la misión de entrenamiento a los rebeldes, a la que los americanos han dado el nombre en código de Timber Sycamore. En virtud del acuerdo, según afirman actuales y antiguos cargos de la administración, los saudíes aportan armas y grandes sumas de dinero y la CIA lleva las riendas del entrenamiento a los rebeldes...

[A]demás de las enormes reservas de crudo saudíes y el papel de este país como pilar espiritual del mundo musulmán suní, la larga relación entre los servicios de inteligencia de ambos Estados ayuda a entender por qué Estados Unidos ha sido reacio a criticar abiertamente a Arabia Saudí por sus violaciones a los derechos humanos, el trato que dispensa a las mujeres o su apoyo hacia una rama integrista del islam, el wahabismo, que ha inspirado a muchos de los mismos grupos terroristas que Estados Unidos está combatiendo...

Los funcionarios americanos no han revelado la cantidad de la contribución saudí, que es con mucho la más grande de un tercer estado al programa para armar a los rebeldes contra el ejército del presidente Bashar al-Assad. Aún así, las estimaciones sitúan el costo del programa de armas y entrenamiento en varios miles de millones de dólares...

La decisión de Obama, en la primavera de 2013, de rubricar el apoyo con armas a los rebeldes, obedece en parte a un intento de ganar control sobre la aparente batalla campal que impera en la región. Los cataríes y los saudíes llevaban más de un año introduciendo armas en Siria. Los cataríes llegaron incluso a enviar misiles FN-6 chinos de contrabando desde la frontera con Turquía...

También los cataríes han contribuido a la financiación del programa y han permitido el uso de una base catarí como lugar suplementario de entrenamiento. No obstante, los funcionarios norteamericanos insisten en que Arabia Saudí es de lejos el mayor contribuyente a la operación..."

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
saudi1 Haz click en el icono REAL PLAYER Haz click en el icono MP3 00:09:04 ESL/SPA


August 2014

Fichero AudioIACHR/Usa - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recalls that the detention of child migrants arriving to the U.S. violates children's rights and the principle of the best interests of the child. (IACHR, ACLU Border Litigation Project). Radio Nizkor, 11Aug14

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has expressed its deep concern on the situation of unaccompanied children migrants that are arriving to the southern border of the United States of America.

In a June 20th press release, the IACHR states that "[A]ccording to publicly available information, between January 1 and May 31, 2014 the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended a record number of 47,017 unaccompanied children migrants along the southwest border of the United States. This number represents an almost 50% increase to-date from last year. Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, previously estimating the arrival of 60,000 unaccompanied child migrants in 2014, have revised the figure, now expecting as many as 90,000. Of the 47,017 children apprehended thus far in 2014, the vast majority (46,188) are from the countries of El Salvador (9,850), Guatemala (11,479), Honduras (13,282), and Mexico (11,577), with the remaining (829) from other countries."

It also indicates that "[A] recent report released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, entitled Children on the Run, found that of children surveyed from Mexico and Central America who were in an irregular migratory situation in the United States, 58% indicated that they were 'forcibly displaced' due to: violence by organized armed criminal actors, including drug cartels and gangs; domestic abuse; and in the case of Mexico, forced recruitment into human smuggling networks.

"[O]nce these children arrive to the United States and are apprehended by the authorities, many of them are being kept in CBP detention for a longer time period than the established 72-hour maximum. Further, the Commission has received troubling information from human rights organizations about abuses suffered by children while in detention..."

"The Commission reminds all of the States in the region that the detention of a child due to his or her irregular migratory situation constitutes a violation of the rights of the child and is always against the principle of the best interests of the child..."

On the other hand, the widespread abuse of unaccompanied immigrant children at the hands of U.S. border officials led the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Border Litigation Project, Americans for Immigrant Justice, Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project, and the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project to file an administrative complaint, on June 11th, with the Department of Homeland Security.

According to the ACLU, "the complaint describes Border Patrol agents denying necessary medical care to children as young as five-months-old, refusing to provide diapers for infants, confiscating and not returning legal documents and personal belongings, making racially-charged insults and death threats, and strip searching and shackling children in three-point restraints during transport." The text emphasizes that abuses of unaccompanied children by immigration officials have been documented and reported to the Department of Homeland Security for years but the government has not implemented reforms or taken any action to hold agents accountable.

File name Real Media format Mp3 formatDuration Language
uscbp Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:01 ENG


July 2014

Fichero AudioCIDH/USA - La CIDH recuerda que la detención de los menores migrantes que están llegando a los EE.UU. viola los derechos del niño y el principio del interés superior del menor. (Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos - CIDH). Radio Nizkor, 28jul14

La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH) ha emitido una nota de prensa expresando su profunda preocupación por la situación de las niñas y niños migrantes no acompañados que están llegando a la frontera sur de los Estados Unidos de América.

En la misma afirma que, "[S]egún la información de público conocimiento, entre el 1 de enero y el 31 de mayo 2014 la Patrulla Fronteriza de los Estados Unidos detuvo un número récord de 47.017 niños migrantes no acompañados a lo largo de la frontera suroeste de los Estados Unidos. Esta cifra representa un aumento de casi 50% respecto de la cifra del año pasado. Previamente, funcionarios del Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los EE.UU. habían estimado la llegada de 60.000 niñas y niños migrantes no acompañados en 2014, tras revisar las cifras, ahora se estima que pueden llegar a ser 90,000. De los 47.017 niñas y niños migrantes detenidos en lo que va de 2014, la gran mayoría (46.188) proceden de El Salvador (9.850), Guatemala (11.479), Honduras (13.282) y México (11.577) y los demás (829) de otros países."

Indica asimismo que "Un informe reciente publicado por el Alto Comisionado de las Naciones Unidas para los Refugiados (ACNUR), titulado "Children on the run", tras realizar entrevistas a niños y niñas de México y Centroamérica que se encontraban en situación migratoria irregular en los Estados Unidos encontró que el 58% indicaron que fueron 'desplazados forzosamente' debido a: la violencia por parte de actores armados del crimen organizado, tales como carteles del narcotráfico y pandillas; violencia doméstica; y en el caso de México, el reclutamiento forzado por parte de redes de tráfico de personas."

"Una vez que estas niñas y niños llegan a los Estados Unidos y son detenidos por las autoridades, muchos de ellos están siendo mantenidos en detención por CBP durante un período de tiempo más largo que el máximo establecido de 72 horas. Además, la Comisión ha recibido información preocupante de organizaciones de derechos humanos sobre los abusos sufridos por los niños durante su detención, incluyendo acceso insuficiente a comida y agua; hacinamiento y condiciones insalubres en celdas y centros de detención migratoria; la falta de mantas, colchones, ropa de cama limpia; además de más de cien denuncias de abuso físico, verbal y sexual por parte de los agentes en contra de las niñas y niños detenidos, los cuales fueron presentados en una denuncia presentada por organizaciones no gubernamentales contra el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de los EE.UU."

"La Comisión recuerda a todos los Estados de la región que la detención de una niña o niño como consecuencia de su situación migratoria irregular representa una violación de los derechos del niño y siempre está en contra del principio del interés superior del niño...

File name Real Media format Mp3 formatDuration Language
menores Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:07:43 ESL/SPA


April 2014

Fichero AudioUSA - State of Exception and the CIA's extra-judicial rendition and interrogation program. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 03Apr14

The United States is implicated in a case currently pending before the European Court of Human Rights concerning two Guantánamo detainees who claim to have been tortured in Poland after an extraordinary rendition by the Central Intelligence Agency (the "CIA")

The applicants are Abd Al Rahim Hussayn Muhammad Al Nashiri, a Saudi Arabian national of Yemeni descent who was born in 1965; and Zayn Al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, also known as Abu Zubaydah, a stateless Palestinian, who was born in 1971 in Saudi Arabia. Both men are currently detained in the Internment Facility at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba...

"Both applicants allege that they were victims of 'extraordinary renditions' by the CIA, that is, of apprehension and extrajudicial transfer to a secret detention site in Poland with the knowledge of the Polish authorities for the purpose of interrogation, during which they were tortured. Both men state that in December 2002 they were taken to Poland on board the same 'rendition plane'."

Both detainees' submissions are based in the so-called "Marty Reports", prepared by Swiss Senator Dick Marty, in 2006, 2007 and 2011, as rapporteur for the investigation conducted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe into allegations of secret detention facilities being run by the CIA in several Member States; they are also based on a report prepared by the CIA inspector general in 2004 on 'counterterrorism detention and interrogation activities' between September 2001 and October 2003. Their submissions also refer to a 2007 report by the International Committee for the Red Cross on the treatment of 'high value detainees' in CIA custody...

"The Marty Reports detail an intricate network of CIA detention and transfer in certain Council of Europe States. Among other things, the reports identify the secret detention centre in Poland as being located in the Stare Kiejkuty intelligence training base near the town of Szczytno in Northern Poland."

Mr Al Nashiri’s and Mr Husayn's complaints before the European Court of Human Rights relate to three principal issues: their torture, ill-treatment and incommunicado detention in Poland while in US custody; their transfer from Poland; and, Poland’s failure to conduct an effective investigation into the events."

"More recently, evidence has emerged that the CIA paid $15 million in cash to the intelligence service of Poland in order to make use of a secret detention site there to interrogate al-Qaeda suspects..."

Also, the Senate Intelligence Committee has produced a 6,300-page study, not available to the public yet, on the CIA Detention and Interrogation Program. Its Chairman, Dianne Feinstein, spoke on the Senate floor on 11 March 2014 in order to clarify the information that was published by the press concerning the CIA's intrusion and search of the Senate Select Committee's computers as well as the committee's acquisition of a certain internal CIA document known as the Panetta Review.

The debate surrounding the CIA's interrogation program is being revisited...

File name Real Media format Mp3 formatDuration Language
cia Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:20:11 ENG


July 2013

Fichero AudioUSA - New report summarizes the available information on how the NSA operates. Radio Nizkor, 12Jul13

A new report from the Congressional Research Service entitled "NSA Surveillance Leaks: Background and Issues for Congress", summarizes for Congress what is publicly known about the two National Security Agency surveillance programs that were disclosed by Edward Snowden and reported in June 2013 by The Guardian and The Washington Post.

According to this report: "Since these programs were publicly disclosed over the course of two days in June, there has been confusion about what information is being collected and what authorities the National Security Agency (NSA) is acting under. This report clarifies the differences between the two programs and identifies potential issues that may help Members of Congress assess legislative proposals pertaining to NSA surveillance authorities."

"These programs arise from provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). However, they rely on separate authorities, collect different types of information, and raise different policy questions. For both programs, there is a tension between the speed and convenience with which the government can access data of possible intelligence value and the mechanisms intended to safeguard civil liberties. The first program collects and stores in bulk domestic phone records that some argue could be gathered to equal effect through more focused records requests. The second program targets the electronic communications of non-U.S. citizens but may incidentally collect information about Americans..."

Steven Aftergood, in charge of the Project on Government Secrecy of the Federation of American Scientists, states that "this report does not present any new factual material concerning the surveillance programs. But it identifies some outstanding questions about them — the word 'unclear' is used several times — and it formulates topics for congressional consideration".

Radio Nizkor has excerpted from this report the sections pertaining to: a) What Information Is Being Collected?, b) What Are the Legal Bases for the Collection? and, c) What Oversight Mechanisms Are in Place?, as these sections contain information on how the NSA operates these programs.

File name Real Media format Mp3 formatDuration Language
nsa Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:26:00 ENG



Fichero AudioUSA - Building America's Secret Surveillance State. (By James Bamford). Radio Nizkor, 02Jul13

"'God we trust,' goes an old National Security Agency joke. 'All others we monitor'. [...]

While the Obama administration and Senate intelligence committee members defend the spying as crucial in its fight against terrorism, this is only the latest chapter in nearly a century of pressure on telecommunications companies to secretly cooperate with NSA and its predecessors. But as stunning technology advances allow more and more personal information to pass across those links, the dangers of the United States turning into a secret surveillance state increase exponentially.

The NSA was so flooded with billions of dollars from post-Sept. 11, 2001 budget increases that it went on a building spree and also expanded its eavesdropping capabilities enormously. Secret rooms were built in giant telecom facilities, such as AT&T's 10-story "switch" in San Francisco. There, mirror copies of incoming data and telephone cables are routed into rooms filled with special hardware and software to filter out email and phone calls for transmission to NSA for analysis. [...]

Today the NSA is the world's largest spy organization, encompassing tens of thousands of employees and occupying a city-size headquarters complex on Fort Meade in Maryland. But in 1920, its earliest predecessor, known as the Black Chamber, fit into a slim townhouse on Manhattan's East 37th Street.

World War One had recently ended, along with official censorship, and the Radio Communication Act of 1912 was again in effect. This legislation guaranteed the secrecy of electronic communications... To the Black Chamber, however, the bill represented a large obstacle to be overcome--illegally, if necessary.

So the Black Chamber chief, Herbert O. Yardley, and his boss in Washington, General Marlborough Churchill, head of the Military Intelligence Division, paid a visit to 195 Broadway in downtown Manhattan, headquarters of Western Union. This was the nation's largest telegram company - the email of that day... The two government officials took the elevator to the 24th floor for a secret meeting with Western Union's president, Newcomb Carlton. Their object was to convince him to grant them secret access to the private communications zapping through his company's wires.

It was easier achieved than Yardley had ever imagined... Yardley later described, "President Carlton seemed anxious to do everything he could for us.'"

Time and again over the decades, this pattern has been repeated. The NSA, or a predecessor, secretly entered into agreements with the country's major telecommunications companies and illegally gained access to Americans' private communications. [...]

Thus, for roughly 100 years, whenever the government knocked on the telecommunications industry's door and asked them to break the law and turn over millions upon millions of private communications, the telecoms complied.... But unlike with Yardley and the Black Chamber, the dangers today of secret cooperation between the telecom and Internet industry and the NSA are incomparable... We now live in an era when access to someone's email account and web searches can paint a more detailed picture of their life then most personal diaries. Secret agreements between intelligence agencies and communications companies should not be allowed in a democracy. There is too much at risk...

File name Real Media format Mp3 formatDuration Language
prism Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:22 ENG


May 2013

Fichero AudioUSA - La CIDH y varios órganos de Naciones Unidas reiteran la necesidad de terminar con la detención indefinida de personas en la Base Naval de Guantánamo. (Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos). Radio Nizkor, 06may13

"La Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (CIDH), el Grupo de Trabajo de ONU sobre la Detención Arbitraria, el Relator Especial de ONU para la promoción y protección de los derechos humanos y las libertades fundamentales en la lucha contra el terrorismo, Ben Emmerson, el Relator Especial de ONU sobre la tortura y otros tratos o penas crueles, inhumanos o degradantes, Juan Méndez, y el Relator Especial de la ONU sobre el derecho de toda persona al disfrute del más alto nivel posible de salud física y mental, Anand Grover, formulan un llamamiento urgente al Gobierno de los Estados Unidos de América a respetar y garantizar la vida, salud e integridad personal de los detenidos en la Base Naval de Guantánamo, particularmente en el contexto de la actual huelga de hambre...

La CIDH, el Grupo de Trabajo y los Relatores Especiales de ONU observan con suma preocupación, ..., que la indefensión jurídica de los detenidos en Guantánamo y la consecuente angustia generada por la incertidumbre acerca de su futuro, les ha conducido a la medida extrema de la huelga de hambre para demandar un cambio real de su situación. La CIDH, el Grupo de Trabajo y los Relatores Especiales de ONU subrayan que cuando la detención indefinida de personas, la absoluta mayoría de ellas sin cargos en su contra, aun en circunstancias extraordinarias, se prolonga más allá de un mínimo de tiempo razonable, la misma constituye una flagrante violación al derecho internacional de los derechos humanos, y constituye, en sí misma, una forma de trato cruel, inhumano y degradante...

Asimismo, la CIDH, y los órganos mencionados de las Naciones Unidas, recuerdan que, de acuerdo con la Declaración de Malta de la Asociación Médica Mundial, en los casos de personas en huelga de hambre deben respetarse, entre otros, los principios de ética en la actuación del personal médico y de respeto por la autonomía de las personas, según los cuales es injustificable la alimentación forzada de seres humanos que, de manera voluntaria e informada, rechacen tal procedimiento...

En atención a estas consideraciones, la CIDH, el Grupo de Trabajo y los Relatores Especiales de ONU, instan a los Estados Unidos de América a:

  • (a) adoptar todas las medidas legislativas, administrativas, judiciales y de cualquier otra naturaleza, necesarias para disponer el juzgamiento en pleno respeto del derecho al debido proceso de las personas detenidas en la Base Naval de Guantánamo o en su caso disponer su liberación inmediata o su traslado a un tercer país de conformidad con el derecho internacional;
  • (b) agilizar el proceso de liberación y traslado de aquellos detenidos que han sido certificados por el propio Gobierno para ser liberados;
  • (c) conducir una investigación seria, independiente e imparcial de los actos de alimentación forzada de internos en huelga de hambre y de la alegada violencia empleada en estos procedimientos;
  • (d) permitir que la CIDH y los procedimientos especiales del Consejo de Derechos Humanos de las Naciones Unidas, ..., realicen visitas de monitoreo al centro de detención de Guantánamo en condiciones tales que se les permita recorrer libremente las instalaciones y entrevistarse libre y privadamente con los prisioneros; y
  • (e) adoptar pasos concretos y decididos dirigidos a clausurar definitivamente el centro de detención de la Base Naval de Guantánamo;...
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gtmo2 Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:09:38 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUSA - U.S. Supreme Court Dismisses Lawsuit Against Shell in Nigeria. (CorpWatch, American Society of International Law). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 02May13


On April 17th, 2013, in a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit against Shell in Nigeria.

The lawsuit was brought by Esther Kiobel against the company for aiding and abetting the Nigerian government who executed her husband and 10 other activists in the Ogoni region of the Niger Delta.

Pratap Chatterjee, Executive Director of CorpWatch, in an article about this decision, explains that "the ruling effectively blocks other lawsuits against foreign multinationals for human rights abuse that have occurred overseas from being brought in U.S. courts."

"Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (Shell) was brought under the Alien Tort Statute, a U.S. law dating back to 1789, originally designed to combat piracy on the high seas - that has been used during the last 30 years as a vehicle to bring international law violations cases to U.S. federal courts.

Lawyers began using the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) as a tool in human rights litigation in 1979, when the family of 17-year-old Joel Filartiga, who was tortured and killed in Paraguay, sued the Paraguayan police chief responsible...

The new ruling limits the law to U.S citizens and entities.

'Corporations are often present in many countries and it would reach too far to say mere corporate presence suffices,' wrote John Roberts, the chief justice of the Supreme Court, in the majority opinion. 'There is no indication that the ATS was passed to make the United States a uniquely hospitable forum for the enforcement of international norms.'

Stephen Breyer, another of the nine judges, agreed with Roberts in the decision but left the door open for some lawsuits. 'I would find jurisdiction under this statute where (1) the alleged tort occurs on American soil, (2) the defendant is an American national, or (3) the defendant’' conduct substantially and adversely affects an important American national interest,' wrote Breyer in a separate legal opinion. '(T)hat includes a distinct interest in preventing the United States from becoming a safe harbor (free of civil as well as criminal liability) for a torturer or other common enemy of mankind.'

To date no substantial lawsuits against multinationals for abuses overseas has been won on ATS grounds, although some have settled or plea bargained. In 1996 Doe v. Unocal, a lawsuit filed by ethnic Karen farmers against Unocal (now owned by Chevron) set a new precedent when a U.S. federal court ruled that corporations and their executive officers could be held legally responsible for crimes against humanity...

Many activists say that the decision will set back human rights causes... Other lawyers drew a measure of hope from the fact that the Supreme Court decision did not exclude all lawsuits against multinationals overseas in U.S. courts.

'This ruling is not a grant of immunity from liability,' write the lawyers of the Center for Constitutional Rights who won the Filártiga case. '(T)hose cases brought against defendants, including corporations, whose actions 'touch and concern the territory of the United States... with sufficient force' should remain on notice they can still be held accountable for their abuses outside the U.S."

As Curtis Bradley, Professor at Duke Law School, writes for the American Society of International Law's Insight, "Nevertheless, ATS litigation will almost certainly have a much narrower scope going forward. Of course, the presumption against extraterritoriality is only a presumption, and it is open to Congress to amend the ATS to make it expressly extraterritorial if it wishes to do so."

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shell Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:25:24 ENG


April 2013

Fichero AudioUSA - The Justice Department's White Paper on Targeted Killing of US Citizens. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 24Apr13


On February 8th, 2013, the Department of Justice released –several days after it had been leaked to the press– an official copy of its White Paper on lethal targeting of Americans to Freedom of Information Act requesters, including the Federation of American Scientists, which filed a FOIA request on February 6th, 2013, and the online news publication Truthout.org, which did so on August 10, 2012.

"The 16-page memo, entitled 'Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen Who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al-Qa’ida or An Associated Force', provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administration’s most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects abroad, including those aimed at American citizens."

"The document is based on a still-classified memo on targeted killings of U.S. citizens prepared by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. It does not discuss any specific target and emphasizes that it does not go into the specific thresholds of evidence that are deemed sufficient."

"At its heart, the memo contends that killing a U.S. citizen who is a "senior operational leader in al-Qaeda or an associated force" is lawful under three conditions:

    (1) [A]n informed, high-level official of the U.S. government has determined that the targeted individual poses an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States;
    (2) capture is infeasible and the United States continues to monitor whether capture becomes feasible; and
    (3) the operation would be conducted in a manner consistent with applicable law of war principles."

"It adopts an elastic definition of an "imminent" threat, saying it is not necessary for a specific attack to be in process when a target is found if the target is generally engaged in terrorist activities aimed at the United States. And it asserts that courts should not play a role in reviewing or restraining such decisions..."

Steven Aftergood, from the Project on Government Secrecy of the Federation of American Scientists, informs that "the belated release of the White Paper may have been dictated by tactical considerations intended to evade an ACLU FOIA lawsuit for related records", as suggested by Marcy Wheeler at Emptywheel.

This program collects the reactions of civil rights organizations such as the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union, as well as the comments of some scholars, like Marjorie Cohn (Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, CA) or David Kaye (a clinical professor of law at UC Irvine School of Law and a State Department lawyer from 1995 to 2005), who analyzes the international law issues addressed or implicated by the White Paper...

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
except Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:25:01 ENG


October 2012

Fichero AudioUSA - Supreme Court Urged to Uphold Review of Wiretapping Programs. (Federation of American Scientists' Project on Government Secrecy, Electronic Privacy Information Center). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 18Oct12.

"In its new term that began on October 1st, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments over whether to affirm the right of journalists and human rights organizations to challenge the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, or FAA.

The FISA Amendments Act authorizes the collection of a broad swath of public communications without a warrant (though not the intentional targeting of the communications of any particular U.S. person). As such, critics say, it jeopardizes freedom of communication with individuals abroad.

At issue is whether the plaintiffs, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, have the 'standing' to bring the case. A lower court said they did not, but an appeals court said they did. It will be up to the Supreme Court to decide the case, which is captioned Amnesty et al v. Clapper.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed an amicus brief urging the Court to affirm standing on grounds that the plaintiffs have established a reasonable concern about the security of their communications, and that existing oversight mechanisms are inadequate."

"At issue in Clapper is whether a group of journalists, attorneys, and non-profit organizations can challenge the US government's interception of their international communications...

The Clapper case tests whether economic and professional costs related to the reasonable fear of being monitored under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act constitute an injury sufficient to give the plaintiffs 'standing' to challenge the law under Article III of the US Constitution. The case also has broad implications for public oversight of surveillance activity...

EPIC's amicus brief for the Supreme Court argues that the government's ability to collect Americans' international communications is nearly 'unbounded,' and that the public may 'reasonably' fear that their private communications will be collected under FISA due to the lack of adequate public reporting and oversight."

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fisa Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:33 ENG


April 2012

Fichero AudioUSA - US Supreme Court unanimously holds that the warrantless use of a GPS tracking device by the police violated the Fourth Amendment. (Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 11Apr12.

On January 23rd, 2012, the Supreme Court unanimously held in U.S. v. Jones that the warrantless use of a GPS tracking device by the police violated the Fourth Amendment.

The Court said that a warrant is required where, as here, the government obtains information by physically intruding on a constitutionally protected area, like a car.

The questions presented were:

1) Whether the warrantless use of a tracking device on petitioner's vehicle to monitor its movements on public streets violated the Fourth Amendment.

2) Whether the government violated respondent's Fourth Amendment rights by installing the GPS tracking device on his vehicle without a valid warrant and without his consent.

The government engages in this investigatory technique frequently, and the federal circuits are divided on whether the practice violates the Fourth Amendment...

Justice Scalia delivered the Opinion of the Court, joined by Justices Kennedy, Roberts, Thomas, and Sotomayor, which held that the Government's installation of a GPS device on a target's vehicle, and its use of that device to monitor the vehicle's movements, constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment.

The majority opinion made clear that the Government's physical occupation of private property for the purpose of obtaining information, would have been considered a search within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment when it was adopted.

Justice Scalia stressed that the holding, while narrow, made clear that the Fourth Amendment, at a minimum, protects from trespassory government searches...

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
gps Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:53 ENG


January 2012

Fichero AudioUSA - U.S. Anti-Corruption Statute at Risk. (Earth Rights International). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 30Jan12.

In view of the current efforts in Washington, D.C., to amend the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), a law that forbids U.S.-based companies from bribing foreign officials, over 30 civil society organizations and socially responsible investors sent letters to all U.S. House and Senate members on January 12th, 2012, urging them to reject proposals to amend and weaken the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

"This letter was drafted in response to intense lobbying by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who reportedly spent $700,000 in 2011 in efforts to cut back on anti-bribery protections found in the law.

Based on this intense lobbying effort, legislators on both sides of the aisle and in both Houses of Congress are considering introducing legislation that would restrict U.S. federal prosecutors' ability to investigate and punish foreign bribery.

The legislators' proposals range from the wholesale adoption of the Chamber's proposals – which would shield companies from liability for the acts of their subsidiaries, allow the bribery of certain types of government agents, and reward willful ignorance of the law – to more modest amendments that would seek sharper, narrower definition of important terms and provide a minimum threshold under which bribery would not be prosecutable.

Even these less extreme efforts, however, would open the FCPA to the unpredictable horse-trading of congressional politics and turn a sterling record of U.S. leadership in the global fight against corruption on its head.

Most glaringly, none of the proposed amendments would, as their proponents suggest, provide greater legal certainty or cost savings to U.S. businesses.

Profs. David Kennedy and Dan Danielsen, the authors of a new report entitled Busting Bribery: Sustaining the Global Momentum of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, explain that the FCPA has played an important role in combatting bribery on a global scale and provided a level playing field for U.S. businesses.

The Chamber's proposed amendments, far from being 'modest' or aimed at 'restoring the balance,' would badly undercut anti-corruption enforcement efforts and provide what Prof. Danielsen called a "license to commit intentional acts of bribery.'

Moreover, the proposed amendments provide standards that are no clearer than those currently in use. And they would not in any event help to streamline companies' compliance programs, as stricter standards than the FCPA are already in place in other countries, like the United Kingdom, and compliance programs are generally geared toward the most exacting standards to which a company is subject..."

In their letter, the organizations stress that "This would harm our ability to bring other nations up to the emerging global standard set forth in the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, a standard that has arisen in part because of the FCPA itself. Such amendments would also have the effect of negatively impacting democratic principles and human rights in countries around the world as the fight against corruption is also a fight to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights."

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fcpa Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:08:33 ENG



Fichero AudioUSA/EU - The proposed EU-US Passenger Name Record (PNR) agreement breaches data protection, due process and other fundamental rights. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 30Jan12.

On 17 November 2011, U.S. and EU officials initialled a proposed agreement to authorize airlines to forward passenger name record data to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Although the agreement cannot take effect without the approval of the European Parliament and the Council, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) could read the proposed agreement only in a sealed room where they could not take notes or make copies.

The complete text on which the European Parliament will vote has finally been made public, revealing a failure to address the concerns raised by the Parliament and continued shortfalls in data protection, due process, and protection of fundamental rights.

In its resolution of 5 May 2010, the Parliament said that the Passenger Name Record (PNR) agreement should take the form of a treaty, recognize the fundamental right to freedom of movement, prohibit the use of PNR data for data mining or profiling, and take into consideration "PNR data which may be available from sources not covered by international agreements, such as computer reservation systems located outside the EU."

The proposed agreement does not meet these criteria, and does not mention any of these issues...

In view of the upcoming vote on the EU-USA PNR Agreement, the Austrian Organization for the Use of the Internet and NoPNR.org, with the endorsement, among others, of The Identity Project, Friends of Privacy USA, Center for Financial Privacy and Human Rights, Statewatch and Privacy International, sent an Open Letter to the European Parliament asking its Members to consider the following issues for their decision on the EU-US PNR Agreement:

  • The proposed agreement will not result in improved legal security for citizens
  • There is no access control or access logging
  • The proposed agreement does not meet the conditions set by the European Parliament
  • There is no appropriate information to travelers

This program has been prepared with information provided by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, European Digital Rights, The Identity Project and StateWatch.

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pnrdata7 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:09:39 ENG



Fichero AudioUSA - The National Defense Authorization Act for 2012: A Great Threat to Americans' Civil Liberties and Rights. (The New York Times, Michel Chossudovsky for the Centre for Research on Globalisation, ACLU, The Center for Constitutional Rights, and E. D. Kain for Forbes). Radio Nizkor, 24Jan12.

"With minimal media debate, at a time when Americans were celebrating the New Year, the 'National Defense Authorization Act' (H.R. 1540) was signed into law by President Barack Obama. The actual signing took place in Hawaii on the 31st of December.

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) authorises the arbitrary and indefinite military detention of American citizens.

According to Obama's "signing statement", the threat of Al Qaeda to the Security of the Homeland constitutes a justification for repealing fundamental rights and freedoms. The relevant provisions pertaining to civil rights were carefully esconded in a short section of a document of more than 500 pages.

President Obama says he disagrees with the NDAA but he signs it into law: '[I have] serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists' , the President wrote. He acknowledges that certain provisions of the Act (contained in Subtitle D--Counterterrorism) are unacceptable.

The fact of the matter is that both the Executive and the US Congress are complicit in the drafting of Subtitle D. In this regard, Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) revealed that it was the White House which had asked the Senate Armed Services Committee 'to remove language from the bill that would have prohibited U.S. citizens' military detention without due process'.

President Obama justifies the signing of the NDAA for 2012 as a means to combating terrorism, as part of a 'counter-terrorism' agenda. But in substance, any American opposed to the policies of the US government can --under the provisions of the this Act-- be labelled a 'suspected terrorist' and arrested under military detention... The signing statement does not in any way invalidate or modify the actual signing by President Obama of the NDAA into law. It does not have any bearing on the implementation/enforcement of the Law...'

The 'most important traditions and values' in derogation of The Bill of Rights and the US Constitution have indeed been repealed, effective on New Year's Day, January 1st 2012..."

On the other hand, Forbes contributor E. D. Kain explains that "The proof that this bill does not expressly exempt U.S. citizens or those captured on U.S. soil is that amendments offered by Sen. Feinstein providing expressly for those exemptions were rejected. The 'compromise' was to preserve the status quo by including the provision that the bill is not intended to alter it with regard to American citizens, but that's because proponents of broad detention powers are confident that the status quo already permits such detention."

"In part the National Defense Authorization Act helps to preserve the status quo established a decade ago with the original provisions in the PATRIOT Act giving the government broad new powers in the so-called War on Terror.

In part the bill expands those powers, codifying the use of indefinite detention of foreign nationals and possibly US citizens arrested abroad and at home. In part the bill expands the use of the US military on domestic soil, at once complicating anti-terrorism strategies at home and raising serious questions about the role of the military in law enforcement.

All these things should make Americans - and not just Americans - very nervous about the preservation of their civil liberties. That precarious balance between security and liberty is looking ever more tilted toward the former and away from the latter. The History of Anti-Terrorism is Bad News for Civil Liberties..."

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ndaa Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:24:58 ENG



Fichero AudioUSA - US crackdown on global domain names and IP addresses continues. (European Digital Rights, Intellectual Property Watch, Access). Radio Nizkor, 05Jan12.

"US authorities have resumed their 'Operation in Our Sites' in order to attempt to fight counterfeit and piracy-related websites..

The introduction of draft bills, such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) aims at providing a legal basis for domain names and IP address seizures.

SOPA's broad definitions could indeed mean that no online resource in the global Internet would be outside US jurisdiction.

In response to these legislative proposals and repeated unilateral measures against European websites, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on 17 November 2011 in preparation of the EU/US summit stressing 'the need to protect the integrity of the global internet and freedom of communication by refraining from unilateral measures to revoke IP addresses or domain names.' The joint EU/US summit declaration published on 28 November 2011 indeed says: "We share a commitment to a single, global Internet, and will resist unilateral efforts to weaken the security, reliability, or independence of its operations".

However, despite the big show of opposition to the US bills and the Parliament's actions, Internet filtering and blocking schemes like SOPA and PIPA are still on the agenda on the other side of the Atlantic claiming worldwide jurisdiction for domain names and IP addresses.

According to recent reports, attempts to terminate the Internet's end-to-end architecture also seem to get even closer to the core of the Internet. This sort of access restriction is an experiment with key functions of the Internet, increasing the risk of fragmentation of the global Internet and as one co-chair of the DNS Working group of the European Regional Internet Registry stated, this gives restrictive tools 'to the bad guys'..."

On November 15th, 2011, a collection of international civil society and human rights organizations sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee Chairman Representative, Lamar Smith (R-Texas), and Ranking Member Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-Michigan).

The groups called into question several provisions of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that would have 'serious implications for international civil and human rights' and the integrity of the global internet. "By imposing technical changes to the open internet while eroding due process, SOPA introduces a deeply concerning degree of legal uncertainty into the internet economy, particularly for businesses and users internationally.

Business cannot be conducted online when international users and businesses do not have faith that their access to payments, domain names, and advertising will be available, raising challenges to economic development and innovation. This is as unacceptable to the international community as it would be if a foreign country were to impose similar measures on the United States.

The provisions in SOPA on DNS filtering in particular will have severe consequences worldwide...

By instituting this practice in the United States, SOPA sends an unequivocal message to other nations that it is acceptable to censor speech on the global Internet. Additionally, Internet engineers have argued in response to the Protect IP Act, DNS filtering would break the internet into separate regional networks.

Worse still, the circumvention technology that can be used to access information under repressive Internet regimes would be outlawed under SOPA, the very same technology whose development is funded by the State Department..."

This program also addresses the problems being faced by the the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as regards the introduction of new top-level domains (TLDs). Larry Strickling, head of the US National Telecommunication and Information Administration (NTIA), said his agency is “seriously considering” using the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) – the entity administering the domain name system root zone currently managed by ICANN under a contract with the US government – to push for accountability and transparency of ICANN. To some, this might be considered a threat. For ICANN, this could mean losing core functions, such as DNS root zone management, including the TLDs and ccTLDs (country-code top-level domains, like .uk), internet protocol address allocation management on the global level, or protocol assignment...

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sopa Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:19:48 ENG


December 2011

Fichero AudioUSA/EU - "Outside the United States, Extraordinary Rendition on Trial". (Alka Pradhan for the American Society of International Law). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University Washington College of Law, 16Dec11.

"Three pending cases before the European Court of Human Rights highlight allegedly illegal acts committed by European countries in connection with the U.S. extraordinary rendition program.

The first, filed by Khalid El-Masri in September 2009, claims unlawful abduction and mistreatment by the Macedonian Ministry of the Interior.

The second was filed by Abd Al-Rahim al Nashiri for alleged mistreatment during his detention at a secret prison (“black site”) in Poland...

The third, most recent case was filed against Lithuania by Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn (“Abu Zubaydah”) for alleged secret detention and torture by CIA agents committed at a Lithuanian black site...

El-Masri’s petition alleges that Macedonia violated Article 3 (prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to intervene during his torture and inhuman treatment by CIA agents in Macedonia; by allowing him to be transported to Afghanistan with the knowledge that he would be tortured and inhumanly treated at the destination; and by failing to investigate his arrest, detention, and transfer to the CIA by Macedonian authorities.

Additionally, El-Masri claims that his detention by Macedonian authorities for twenty-three days, along with his transfer to CIA agents, violated his right to liberty and security of person (Article 5), and that the failure by the Macedonian criminal courts to hear his case violated his right to remedy guaranteed by Article 13 of the Convention.

Regarding Al Nashiri, his petition alleges violations of Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), 5 (liberty and security of person), 8 (right to private and family life), 10 (freedom of expression), and 13 (right to remedy) of the Convention, and Protocol 6 to the Convention (abolition of the death penalty)...

If the Court accepts El-Masri’s and/or al Nashiri’s applications, both the applicants and the member states will be invited to present their claims before the Court. Should the Court find that a member state has violated the Convention, it may issue a declaratory judgment, order payment of damages and legal costs, or implement other measures of reparation.

Chamber judgments may be appealed to the “Grand Chamber,” whose judgments are final. Because the United States is not a party to the European Court of Human Rights, it is not named in the applications. However, if the United States decides to participate in the proceedings, the Court has the discretion to allow a third party to intervene in the form of written comments..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
rendition Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:45 ENG


November 2011

Fichero AudioUSA - The War Powers Resolution should be revised. (Chris Economou, International Affairs Review, 17Oct11). Radio Nizkor, 29Nov11.

"Before U.S. President Barack Obama committed American forces to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) mission in Libya last spring, he neglected to provide an adequate reason for America's involvement or seek approval from Congress. [...]

Obama's failure to consult with Congress creates a dangerous precedent that denies Congress a say in deciding when and how U.S. military forces should be used and instead places these decisions into the hands of just one person - the president. [...]

The U.S. Constitution grants Congress the power to declare wars and fund the military. However, the Constitution simultaneously empowers the president to carry out wars as commander-in-chief. Both branches of government have long debated this dichotomy of war powers.

The War Powers Resolution of 1973 meant to end this debate by requiring closer collaboration between the branches when the United States enters into a conflict. [...]

Passed over a presidential veto, the War Powers Resolution means to serve as a check on the president's ability to commit U.S. forces to lengthy military engagements without approval from Congress.

Since the start of U.S. involvement in NATO's Libya mission, President Obama has neglected the War Powers Resolution by denying that the conflict is actually a war. [...]

Considering that America provided the bulk of NATO's military capabilities and funding in Libya, this was as much America's war as it was NATO's.

Therefore, Obama should have consulted with and sought approval from Congress and adhered to the 60-day deadline, as the Resolution requires.

To prevent future presidents from ignoring Congress' role in military conflicts, the War Powers Resolution should be revised to make it more specific and binding..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
warpowers Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:05:00 ENG


August 2011

Fichero AudioUSA/Col - La ayuda estadounidense, implicada en abusos de poder en Colombia. (Karen DeYoung, Claudia J. Duque y Juan Forero para The Washington Post). Radio Nizkor, 29ago11

"La administración Obama por lo general cita la próspera democracia de Colombia como ejemplo de que, gracias a la asistencia el ‘know how’ y compromiso de Estados Unidos, se puede hacer viable a un Estado casi fallido y bajo amenaza terrorista...

No obstante, nuevas revelaciones sobre los prolongados escándalos políticos del ex presidente Álvaro Uribe, quien fue un aliado cercano de Estados Unidos durante sus ocho años de gobierno, terminaron vinculando la ayuda estadounidense, y quizás a funcionarios estadounidenses, con graves abusos de poder y acciones ilegales del gobierno colombiano bajo la máscara de combatir el terrorismo y el tráfico de drogas.

De acuerdo con documentos policiales obtenidos por el Washington Post y entrevistas con fiscales y ex oficiales colombianos de inteligencia, se usaron dinero, equipos y entrenamiento norteamericano, suministrados a unidades élites de la inteligencia colombiana en la última década para ayudar a acabar con grupos de traficantes drogas, para llevar a cabo operaciones de espionaje y hacer campañas de desprestigio contra la Corte Suprema de Justicia, contra miembros de la oposición y contra grupos de la sociedad civil.

Las revelaciones hacen parte de una investigación de la Fiscalía General contra el Departamento Administrativo de Seguridad, DAS. Seis ex funcionarios de inteligencia de alto rango han confesado crímenes y más de una docena de agentes operativos del DAS están en juicio. Varios de los ayudantes más cercanos a Uribe han estado bajo escrutinio, y Uribe está bajo investigación por una comisión legislativa especial...

Algunos de los que enfrentan cargos o están bajo investigación han descrito la importancia de los recursos y la orientación de inteligencia de Estados Unidos y dicen que ellos regularmente le informaban a los oficiales "de contacto" de la Embajada sobre sus actividades de recopilación de información. "Nos organizábamos a través de la Embajada de Estados Unidos", dijo William Romero, quien manejaba la red de informantes del DAS y supervisó la infiltración a la Corte Suprema. Como muchos de los oficiales de alto rango del DAS que están en la cárcel o enfrentan cargos, él recibió entrenamiento de la CIA. Algunos recibieron becas para completar su formación académica en recopilación de inteligencia en universidades de Estados Unidos...

Una unidad que dependía de ayuda de la CIA, según el testimonio de ex funcionarios del DAS, era el Grupo de Observación Nacional e Internacional, Goni.

El grupo fue creado para encontrar vínculos entre agentes extranjeros y guerrillas colombianas, pero cambió su foco hacia la Corte Suprema después de que sus magistrados comenzaron a investigar al primo del Presidente, el entonces senador Mario Uribe, según dijo su ex Director, Germán Ospina, en su versión libre ante la Fiscalía. Las órdenes vinieron "de la Presidencia, querían resultados inmediatos", dijo Ospina.

Otra unidad que operó durante ocho meses en 2005, el Grupo de Análisis de Medios Terroristas, GAME, armó informes sobre líderes sindicales, irrumpió en sus oficinas y filmó a miembros de sindicatos. Los Estados Unidos proveyeron equipos y decenas de miles de dólares, según un reporte interno del DAS, y los miembros de la unidad regularmente se reunían con un oficial de la Embajada que recordaban como 'Chris Sullivan'...

Myles Frechette, el Embajador en Colombia entre 1994 y 1997, dijo que aun durante su período, funcionarios estadounidenes creían que las unidades del DAS estaban manchadas por corrupción y tenían vínculos con narcotraficantes. Pero dijo que la Embajada necesitaba un socio para hacer inteligencia sobre contrabandistas de droga y guerrillas..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 formatDuration Language
das4 Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:13:31 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUSA/Col - U.S. aid implicated in abuses of power in Colombia. (Karen DeYoung, Claudia J. Duque and Juan Forero for The Washington Post). Radio Nizkor, 29Aug11

"The Obama administration often cites Colombia’s thriving democracy as proof that U.S. assistance, know-how and commitment can turn around a potentially failed state under terrorist siege...

But new revelations in long-running political scandals under former president Alvaro Uribe, a close U.S. ally throughout his eight-year tenure, have implicated American aid, and possibly U.S. officials, in egregious abuses of power and illegal actions by the Colombian government under the guise of fighting terrorism and drug smuggling.

American cash, equipment and training, supplied to elite units of the Colombian intelligence service over the past decade to help smash cocaine-trafficking rings, were used to carry out spying operations and smear campaigns against Supreme Court justices, Uribe’s political opponents and civil society groups, according to law enforcement documents obtained by The Washington Post and interviews with prosecutors and former Colombian intelligence officials.

The revelations are part of a widening investigation by the Colombian attorney general’s office against the Department of Administrative Security, or DAS. Six former high-ranking intelligence officials have confessed to crimes, and more than a dozen other agency operatives are on trial. Several of Uribe’s closest aides have come under scrutiny, and Uribe is under investigation by a special legislative commission...

Some of those charged or under investigation have described the importance of U.S. intelligence resources and guidance, and say they regularly briefed embassy “liaison” officials on their intelligence-gathering activities. “We were organized through the American Embassy,” said William Romero, who ran the DAS’s network of informants and oversaw infiltration of the Supreme Court. Like many of the top DAS officials in jail or facing charges, he received CIA training. Some were given scholarships to complete coursework on intelligence-gathering at American universities...

One unit dependent on CIA aid, according to the testimony of former DAS officials in depositions, was the National and International Observations Group.

Set up to root out ties between foreign operatives and Colombian guerrillas, it turned its attention to the Supreme Court after magistrates began investigating the president’s cousin, then-Sen. Mario Uribe, said a former director, German Ospina, in a deposition to prosecutors. The orders came “from the presidency; they wanted immediate results,” Ospina told prosecutors.

Another unit that operated for eight months in 2005, the Group to Analyze Terrorist Organization Media, assembled dossiers on labor leaders, broke into their offices and videotaped union activists. The United States provided equipment and tens of thousands of dollars, according to an internal DAS report, and the unit’s members regularly met with an embassy official they remembered as 'Chris Sullivan...'

Myles Frechette, the U.S. ambassador to Colombia from 1994 to 1997, said that even in his tenure American officials believed that DAS units were tainted by corruption and linked to traffickers. But he said the embassy needed a partner to develop intelligence on drug smugglers and guerrillas..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 formatDuration Language
das3 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:01 ENG



Fichero AudioESCR - Does the U.S. Administration Really Want Defense Spending Cuts?. (Reuters). Radio Nizkor, 23Aug11.

"In the upcoming Super Committee deficit reduction negotiations, most Democrats believe they must order their priorities to reflect their values and stay on message. Their first choice for debt reduction should be increased tax revenues, second would be cuts to the Pentagon’s bloated budget, and third would be cuts to domestic spending, whether discretionary or mandatory (entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare

Theoretically, the threat of cuts to national security spending, which will go into effect if no Super Committee deal is reached, gives Democrats leverage over hawkish Republicans to agree to increased tax revenues. Give up that leverage by saying that you’d prefer cuts to entitlement spending over cuts to the Defense Department, and you’ve given Republicans cover to claim that cutting entitlements while achieving no Democratic priorities is a fair offer.

So why would any Democrat, particularly a prominent member of the Obama administration, undercut the Democrats’ bargaining position by saying entitlement cuts are preferable to Defense cuts? It’s unclear, but that is what Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is doing.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, “Panetta said that the roughly half a trillion in additional cuts in Defense Department spending that would go into effect if Congress fails to enact a separate savings package by the end of the year would be ‘unacceptable.’ Any further defense cuts ‘is going to damage national security.’”

Later, Panetta took to his department’s web site to reiterate the point. As foreign policy expert Michael Cohen explains, “If the committee fails to reach an agreement and across-the-board defense cuts are immediately put into effect Republicans can use a Democratic Secretary of Defense’s own words to argue that Congressional Democrats have weakened national security.”...

The facts do not support his claim. The U.S. spends more than four times as much in absolute dollars, never mind per capita, than its nearest competitor, China. Just behind China rank longstanding U.S. allies such as the United Kingdom (third) and France (fourth)..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
defensecuts Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:44 ENG



Fichero AudioESCR - The Missing Truth in the BP Oil Disaster. (Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights). Radio Nizkor, 23Aug11.

"More than a year after a private company operating in public waters retched 170 million gallons of crude and two million gallons of toxic dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico, creating an environmental catastrophe, we still lack reliable statistics on the BP oil disaster's impact on the health of residents.

I recently spent several days travelling across the Gulf Coast region of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, speaking with fishermen, oystermen, shrimpers, restaurant workers, and neighbours about the illnesses they have suffered in the wake of this calamity...

Our delegation met two brothers who said their families had been fishing for five generations. Both they and their family members have endured excruciating lung, skin, and digestive-tract ailments in the wake of the BP disaster. When one man's infant grandson ran a high fever, his daughter-in-law panicked and brought the child to the emergency room. Self-employed and uninsured, he faced a bill of 2,300 dollars. With shrimp yields the lowest in memory, he wonders how he will pay...

Many of those who sought care have been belittled when they've mentioned BP, and dismissed as delusional or depressed. We heard dozens of people across the region talk about similar health problems and obstacles to care. There are many reasons. The full spectrum of chemicals used in the dispersants was made public in June 2011, only after requests consistently denied led to extensive litigation...

First responders to the 9/11 tragedy did not have to prove causation in order to get treatment, they only had to show they were in the vicinity of the terrorist attack. Similarly, the 150,000-strong cleanup crew who sacrificed themselves, and their families and neighbours who live along the Gulf Coast should not have to prove that their symptoms are caused by BP's catastrophe, only that they were there...

It's time for us to provide the families of the Gulf Coast with the health care they deserve."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
bp Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:09:34 ENG



Fichero AudioDESC - La catastrófica claudicación de Obama. (Por Paul Krugman, New York Times; Traducción de Jaime Arrambide, La Nación, Buenos Aires, Arg). Radio Nizkor, 23ago11.

El acuerdo para elevar el techo de la deuda federal está a punto de ser aprobado. Si esto sucede, muchos comentaristas anunciarán que se ha evitado la catástrofe. Se estarán equivocando.

Porque el acuerdo en sí, según la información disponible, es una catástrofe, y no sólo para el presidente Barack Obama y su partido. El acuerdo perjudicará a una economía que ya está en recesión, probablemente agrave aún más el eterno problema del déficit norteamericano y, lo que es más importante todavía, al demostrar que la extorsión descarada funciona y no tiene costo político, arrastrará a Estados Unidos por el camino de las repúblicas bananeras.

Empecemos por la economía. En este momento, el país atraviesa una profunda depresión... Lo peor que se puede hacer en una coyuntura como ésta es recortar el gasto público, porque sólo deprimirá la economía aún más... Las cosas no funcionan así: está demostrado por numerosos estudios de los registros históricos.

De hecho, recortar el gasto con la economía deprimida ni siquiera aliviará mucho la situación presupuestaria, y hasta podría agravarla. Por un lado, las tasas de interés con las que se endeuda el gobierno federal son muy bajas, así que un recorte del gasto ahora no hará mucho por reducir el costo de los intereses futuros... Así que esos exigentes recortes del gasto de la actualidad son como esos médicos medievales que trataban al enfermo con sangrías y sólo conseguían enfermarlo aún más.

Y después están los términos del arreglo, que equivalen a una abyecta rendición por parte del presidente Obama. Primero, habrá enormes recortes del gasto público, sin aumentos de los ingresos. Luego un panel recomendará futuras reducciones del déficit, y si esas recomendaciones son aceptadas, habrá otros recortes del gasto...

[L]o más probable es que los republicanos se envalentonen por el modo en que Obama sigue retrocediendo frente a sus amenazas. Ya se rindió en diciembre, cuando extendió todos los recortes impositivos de George W. Bush, y se ha rendido ahora y a gran escala frente a la descarada extorsión sobre el techo de endeudamiento. Tal vez sea yo, pero acá veo un patrón de conducta.

¿Tenía el presidente alguna alternativa esta vez? Sí. Para empezar, podría y debería haber pedido un aumento del techo de endeudamiento allá en diciembre pasado...

Como mínimo, el presidente podría haber usado la opción de la artimaña legal para fortalecer su posición en las negociaciones. Sin embargo, hizo todo lo contrario: descartó todas esas opciones desde el principio.

Que nadie se equivoque: lo que estamos presenciando es una catástrofe en todos los planos..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
usdebt1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:43 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUSA/Mex - US Court Documents Claim Sinaloa "Cartel" is Protected by US Government. (Bill Conroy for The Narcosphere-Narconews). Radio Nizkor, 23Aug11.

The son of a heavy hitter in a powerful Mexican drug trafficking organization has filed explosive legal pleadings in federal court in Chicago accusing the US government of cutting a deal with the the "Sinaloa Cartel" that gave its leadership "carte blanche to continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs into Chicago and the rest of the United States."

The source of that allegation is Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla, the son of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada Garcia, one of the purported top leaders of the Sinaloa drug-trafficking organization — a major Mexican-based importer of weapons and exporter of drugs.

The top capo of the Sinaloa drug organization, named after the Pacific Coast Mexican state where it is based, is Joaquin Guzman Loera (El Chapo) — who escaped from a maximum security prison in Mexico in 2001, only days before he was slated to be extradited to the United States. Chapo has since gone on to build one of the most powerful drug "cartels" in Mexico. With the death of Osama Bin Laden in May, Chapo (a Spanish nickname meaning "shorty") jumped to the top of the FBI’s "Most Wanted" persons list. He also made Forbes Magazine’s 2010 list of "The World's Most Powerful People."

Zambada Niebla, himself a key player in the Sinaloa organization, was arrested in Mexico City in March 2009 and last February extradited to the United States to stand trial on narco-trafficking-related charges...

Zambada Niebla also claims to be an asset of the US government. His allegation was laid out originally in a two-page court pleading filed in late March with the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

The latest allegations being advanced by Zambada Niebla, who is now being held in solitary confinement in a jail cell in Chicago, are laid out in motions filed late this week [July 29, 2011] in federal court. Those pleadings spell out the supposed cooperative relationship between the US Department of Justice and its various agencies, including DEA and the FBI, and the leaders of the “Sinaloa Cartel” — including Zambada Niebla. That alleged relationship was cultivated through a Mexican attorney, Humberto Loya Castro, whom Zambada Niebla claims is a Sinaloa Cartel member and 'a close confidante of Joaquin Guzman Loera (Chapo)...' Zambada Niebla’s pleadings also reference the controversial U.S Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) weapons-trafficking interdiction program Fast and Furious — an operation, now the subject of Congressional hearings, that allegedly allowed some 2,000 guns to be smuggled across the US/Mexican border under ATF’s watch. Zambada Niebla contends that Fast and Furious is yet another example of the US government’s complicity in the carnage of the drug war..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
sinaloa1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:00 ENG



Fichero AudioUSA/Mex - Declaraciones de integrante del cártel de Sinaloa implican a la DEA en acuerdo ilegal con la organización criminal. (Inter Press Service). Radio Nizkor, 23ago11.

"Las últimas declaraciones de un miembro del cártel de Sinaloa detenido en Estados Unidos echan luz sobre la complicidad de Washington con líderes narcotraficantes y la ineficacia de sus operaciones de inteligencia.

A fines de la semana pasada, el hijo de un alto jefe del cártel de Sinaloa declaró ante una corte federal estadounidense que Washington le había dado "carta blanca para seguir contrabandeando toneladas de drogas a (la norteña ciudad de) Chicago y al resto de Estados Unidos".

Las acusaciones, aunque prácticamente ignoradas por los medios estadounidenses, despertaron nuevas dudas sobre la política antidrogas de Washington al sur de la frontera, que muchos analistas consideran ha sido por años tan corrupta como ineficaz.

En la declaración de dos páginas al tribunal, Jesús Vicente Zambada-Niebla (hijo de Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García, un supuesto líder de la organización traficante de drogas y armas en el occidental estado mexicano de Sinaloa) dio detalles de la presunta colaboración entre el cártel y el Departamento de Justicia estadounidense y sus varias ramas, incluyendo agencias como la DEA (antidrogas) y el Buró Federal de Investigaciones (FBI)...

El juicio a Zambada-Niebla también echó luz sobre los fallos de inteligencia de Estados Unidos, al hacer referencia a una polémica operación del Buró para el Alcohol, el Tabaco y las Armas de Fuego (ATF) conocida como "Rápido y furioso".

Ahora tema de una investigación en el Congreso, la operación fue un intento de seguir el rastro de las ventas de armas estadounidenses a los cárteles mexicanos.

Bajo el programa, supervisado desde la sede central de la ATF en Phoenix, Arizona, cerca de 2.500 armas de fuego, incluyendo cientos de rifles AK-47 y Barrett, fueron vendidos por agentes encubiertos a traficantes de armas.

La operación comenzó en 2008, y miles de armas han desaparecido en la frontera sin que se sepa su rastro. La falta de un mecanismo efectivo para rastrearlas determinó que estén ahora seguramente en manos de algunos de los más peligrosos criminales mexicanos...

Según Zambada-Niebla, como resultado de la frustrada operación, alrededor de "3.000 personas" en México fueron asesinadas, incluyendo agentes del orden en el estado de Sinaloa."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
sinaloa Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:11:09 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUSA - The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago Rules Rumsfeld Can Be Held Liable for Torture of U.S. Citizens in War Zones. (Government Accountabilty Project; Inter Press Service; Vance v. Rumsfeld, Nos. 10-1687, 10-2442; Equipo Nizkor). Radio Nizkor, 16Aug11.

On August 8th, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago in the case Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel v. Donald Rumsfeld and The United States of America, ruled that two American citizens can continue with their lawsuit holding former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld personally responsible for their alleged torture.

Both plaintiffs worked as contractors in Iraq and were wrongfully detained and subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques" by American military officers.

"The Court agreed with several rulings of a lower court regarding the case. Specifically, the Seventh Circuit found that Vance and Ertel 'alleged in sufficient detail facts supporting Secretary Rumsfeld's personal responsibility for the alleged torture,' 'that Secretary Rumsfeld is not entitled to qualified immunity on the pleadings,' and that 'a Bivens remedy is available for the alleged torture of civilian U.S. citizens by U.S. military personnel in a war zone.' (Bivens remedies allow for citizens to sue for damages for constitutional violations committed by federal agents.)"

On Apr. 16, 2006, two U.S. contractors in Iraq's Red Zone were handcuffed, blindfolded and transported to Camp Cropper, a U.S. military facility located a few miles from Baghdad International Airport, where they were detained as security internees.

Held without a trial or court hearing and tortured, the plaintiffs are suing for damages rendered against them in Camp Cropper, where Rumsfeld and several other unnamed officials allegedly "developed, authorized and used harsh interrogation techniques on them", thus violating their basic civil, constitutional and human rights...

Out of many suits brought against Rumsfeld over the torture of detainees in Iraq, Vance is one of only two that has been allowed to proceed... On August 2, 2011, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, in Washington DC, upheld the validity of a constitutional rights claim by Doe against Rumsfeld for his role in the torturing and illegal imprisonment of Doe, a U.S. citizen who was working as a translator in Iraq.

The Vance-Ertel case exposes the myriad links between private contractors, U.S. forces, U.S. government officials and intelligence agencies that often converge in the dark cells of detention centres such as Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay and Camp Cropper...

Upon analysing whether plaintiffs' allegations of torture entail a violation of their constitutional right to substantive due process, the court said that "The Supreme Court 'has long held that certain interrogation techniques, either in isolation or as applied to the unique characteristics of a particular suspect, are so offensive to a civilized system of justice that they must be condemned under the Due Process Clause.'"

The court rejected the claim that government officials should be above the law, stating in its final decision, "We see no persuasive justification in ... case law or otherwise for Rumsfeld's most sweeping argument, which would deprive civilian U.S. citizens of a civil judicial remedy for torture or even cold-blooded murder by federal officials and soldiers, at any level, in a war zone."

"Given the totality of the plaintiffs' allegations, that they were interrogated with physical violence and threats, were kept in extremely cold cells without adequate clothing, were continuously deprived of sleep..., a reasonable official in Secretary Rumsfeld's position in 2006 would have known that this amounted to unconstitutional treatment of a civilian U.S. citizen detainee."

The court also stated that "The wrongdoing alleged here violates the most basic terms of the constitutional compact between our government and the citizens of this country..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
rumsfeld Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:15:18 ENG


December 2010

Fichero AudioPer/Usa - Indigenous Peruvians Win Appeal in Federal Lawsuit Against Oil Company Occidental Pretroleum. (EarthRights International - ERI). Radio Nizkor, 30Dec10.

"On December 6th 2010, 25 indigenous plaintiffs from the Peruvian Amazon, members of the Achuar indigenous group, won their appeal in the landmark human rights and environmental contamination lawsuit against U.S. oil giant Occidental Petroleum, also known as Oxy, as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that the case should be heard in Los Angeles, Oxy’s hometown.

A district court judge had previously ruled that the case should be litigated in Peru, but the Ninth Circuit disagreed, allowing the plaintiffs to proceed in federal court.

The lawsuit accuses Oxy of causing severe injuries by knowingly dumping a daily average of 850,000 barrels of toxic wastewater into the tropical rainforest inhabited by the indigenous Achuar people of northern Peru over a 30-year period, as well as inducing acid rain from gas flaring, and improperly storing waste in unlined pits." The plaintiffs allege that these outdated practices caused widespread lead and cadmium poisoning, among other serious health impacts...

"The Achuar case, Maynas Carijano v. Occidental Petroleum, was filed in May 2007 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. In April 2008, the district court ruled that the case should be heard in Peru under the legal doctrine of forum non conveniens..." The plaintiffs and their counsel appealed that ruling and now the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's decision.

Accordingly with previous jurisprudence, the Ninth Circuit considered forum non conveniens "an exceptional tool to be employed sparingly," and not a "doctrine that compels plaintiffs to choose the optimal forum for their claim"

Plaintiffs include 25 members of the Achuar indigenous group dependent for their existence upon the rainforest lands and waterways along the river, and Amazon Watch, a nonprofit Montana corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. Counsel for the plaintiffs-appellants includes Washington, DC-based EarthRights International, the Venice, CA firm Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris Hoffman & Harrison LLP, and San Francisco lawyer Natalie Bridgeman.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
oxy Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:13:54 ENG


March 2009

Fichero AudioUsa - El Centro por los Derechos Constitucionales hace público un informe que desmiente las informaciones del Almte. Walsh sobre Guantánamo. (Agencia International Press Service). Radio Nizkor, 02mar09


La situación de los prisioneros en la base naval estadounidense en Guantánamo, Cuba, se "deteriora" con rapidez, mientras las autoridades procesan "unos pocos cambios cosméticos", advirtió el Centro por los Derechos Constitucionales (CCR).

Estas noticias contradicen los últimos informes de autoridades militares de Estados Unidos, según los cuales los prisioneros recibían un trato "humano".

El CCR difundió el 23feb09 un informe sobre las condiciones de reclusión en los bloques denominados cinco, seis y Echo, tras la conferencia de prensa brindada por el vicejefe de operaciones navales, almirante Patrick M. Walsh. En el reporte que elevó a la Casa Blanca, Walsh concluyó que Guantánamo cumple con las normas establecidas en las Convenciones de Ginebra.

El informe del CCR, "Conditions of Confinement at Guantanamo: Still in Violation of the Law" ("Condiciones de confinamiento en Guantánamo: Todavía en violación de la ley") rechaza las conclusiones de Walsh.

Los redactores del estudio cubrieron el periodo enero-febrero de 2009 y tomaron en cuenta nuevos testimonios de abogados y detenidos. Según el mismo, "[L]os detenidos en Guantánamo han continuado sufriendo confinamiento solitario, abusos psicológicos, alimentación forzada abusiva de huelguistas de hambre, abusos religiosos, y abusos físicos y amenazas de violencia de parte de guardias y de equipos de la Fuerza de Reacción Inmediata"...

El director ejecutivo del CCR, Vincent Warren, llamó al presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, a "remediar y poner fin rápidamente al Guantánamo creado por su predecesor, sin blanquearlo".

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
ccr Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:08:44 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa/Afg - Los prisioneros en la cárcel de Bagram continúan en un régimen de estado de excepción y sin reconocimiento jurídico. (Agencia International Press Service). Radio Nizkor,02mar09


Muchos defensores de los derechos humanos aplaudieron al presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, por ordenar el próximo cierre de la cárcel en la base naval de Guantánamo, Cuba. Muchos otros preguntaron entonces qué pasaría con la de Bagram, en Afganistán.

Abogados del Departamento de Justicia (fiscalía general) de Obama respondieron esa interrogante recientemente en tribunales federales: el Poder Ejecutivo asumirá la misma posición que durante la presidencia de George W. Bush. En otras palabras, los más de 600 detenidos en la base aérea estadounidense en Bagram no tienen derecho a que tribunales del país norteamericano analicen la legalidad de su reclusión. El Departamento de Justicia entiende que ninguna de las sentencias sobre Guantánamo puede aplicarse en beneficio de los recluidos en Bagram, pues los tribunales estadounidenses no tienen jurisdicción sobre ellos y su cautiverio responde a una operación militar en curso.

Algunos dicen ser víctimas de "entregas extraordinarias" ("extraordinary renditions") de la Agencia Central de Inteligencia (CIA), mecanismo por el cual se trasladó en el periodo de Bush a personas que no pueden ser legalmente arrestadas en Estados Unidos a países dispuestos a usar tratamientos inhumanos contra ellos. Muchos más dicen haber sido torturados y abusados en esa cárcel, ubicada en las afueras de Kabul.

En el caso Boumediene versus Bush, entablado por un ciudadano de Bosnia-Herzegovina preso en Guantánamo, "la Corte Suprema sostuvo que los detenidos" allí "tienen derecho al hábeas corpus para apelar su detención", pero no limitó ese derecho a Guantánamo. El juez Anthony Kennedy, miembro conservador de la Corte Suprema, dijo que "no sería benevolente con funcionarios que encarcelen a personas en otros países para evitar la jurisdicción de los tribunales estadounidenses", indicó Marjorie Cohn, presidenta del Sindicato Nacional de Abogados.

Observadores dicen no estar sorprendidos de que Obama siga el modelo de Bush... A comienzos de febrero, la fiscalía mantuvo ante un tribunal federal en San Francisco la invocación del gobierno anterior del "secreto de Estado", para impedir que la justicia considerara la demanda de un etíope residente en Gran Bretaña y víctima de una "entrega extraordinaria". Se trata de Binyam Mohamed, quien hasta hace muy poco estuvo prisionero en Guantánamo. La Corte Suprema británica dejó en reserva siete párrafos de una sentencia en un caso presentado por defensores de Mohamed y que daban crédito a las torturas que el demandante asegura haber sufrido. El tribunal explicó que el Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos había amenazado, en una carta enviada al Departamento de Relaciones Exteriores británico, con reconsiderar la cooperación bilateral en inteligencia...

La ONU ha criticado en un informe reciente la condición de reclusión de los prisioneros en Bagram. Por otro lado, aunque a la Cruz Roja se le permitió visitar a detenidos, sus conclusiones son mantenidas en secreto. Además, las fuerzas armadas estadounidenses rechazaron pedidos de la ONU para realizar visitas similares...

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
bagram Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:09:03 ESL/SPA


January 2009

Fichero AudioUsa - Las agencias de calificación son responsables directas de haber alterado intencionadamente calificaciones de riesgo. (IPS). Radio Nizkor, 03ene09.

Las firmas dedicadas a calificar el riesgo financiero de empresas y países comenzaron a funcionar a principios del siglo XX y fueron aumentando la variedad de instituciones, compañías, inversionistas individuales e incluso ciudades y hasta economías de estados nacionales a los que calificaban por sus bondades para invertir.

Ya habían sido criticadas antes por su poder superior a los estados que ingresaban al mercado de bonos internacional en busca de efectivo. Toda rebaja de categoría puede desbaratar la búsqueda de fondos de un país.

"Millones de inversores confían en sus evaluaciones independientes y objetivas. Las clasificadoras rompieron ese vínculo de confianza y los reguladores federales ignoraron las señales de alerta y no hicieron nada para proteger a la gente", señaló Henry Waxman, del Partido Demócrata y presidente del Comité de Supervisión de Asuntos de Gobierno de la Cámara de Representantes.

Las propias firmas necesitadas de una valoración pagan a las calificadoras para que la evalúen, un conflicto de intereses evidente que las llevó a inflar la nota de compañías en problemas y con inversiones de riesgo, apuntó el legislador.

El representante demócrata Stephen Lynch describió cómo las empresas necesitadas de una valoración retiran de la calificadora sus negocios con posibilidades de recibir una mala nota. Eso llevó a las agencias a otorgar altas calificaciones por temor a perder clientes, apuntó.

Moody’s, Standard and Poor’s y Fitch concentran más de 95 por ciento del negocio de las agencias calificadoras.

Hace poco, las calificadoras tuvieron que retroceder. Standard and Poor’s tuvo que darle menor nota a más de dos tercios de las inversiones que califica y Moody’s bajó de categoría a más de 5.000 títulos con respaldo de préstamos hipotecarios, indicó Waxman.

Standard and Poor’s le había concedido una buena calificación a la firma Enron días antes de su colapso. "La misma gente que otorgó esa nota sigue al mando del gallinero", explicó Frank Raiter, ex ejecutivo de Standard and Poor’s.

"Las calificadoras otorgaron, a sabiendas, valoraciones falsas e infladas para los títulos respaldados por préstamos problemáticos, que luego se convirtieron en una pesadilla financiera para millones de familias que están perdiendo sus viviendas", reza la misiva enviada por la Coalición Nacional de Reinversión Comunitaria a la Comisión de Valores y Cambios (SEC por sus siglas en inglés), en agosto de 2008...

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
moodys Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:07:34 ESL/SPA


March 2008

Fichero AudioUsa - La militarización progresiva de la política exterior elimina el control civil de las operaciones exteriores. (Agencia International Press Service ). Radio Nizkor, 31Mar08.


La política exterior de Estados Unidos es cada vez más dominada por el Pentágono en vez del Departamento de Estado (cancillería), y el Congreso legislativo no hace nada para detenerlo, alertaron organizaciones de derechos humanos.

El Departamento de Defensa no sólo logra más dominio con la creación de sus nuevos programas de ayuda militar, en el marco de su "guerra contra el terrorismo", sino también a través del creciente poder de los "comandantes combatientes", altos mandos que supervisan las operaciones militares en todo el mundo, según el informe titulado "Preparen, apunten, política exterior", divulgado el jueves por una coalición de organizaciones no gubernamentales.

De hecho, un documento de estrategia preparado el año pasado por el Comando Sur, que supervisa todas las operaciones en el Caribe y América Latina al sur de México, proponía que esa oficina militar coordinara además a todas las agencias estadounidenses relevantes, incluyendo las civiles, "para cubrir toda la gama de desafíos regionales"...

Este informe es el último de una serie que han alertado sobre la creciente militarización de la política exterior estadounidense, sobre todo bajo el gobierno de Bush.

En mayo de 2007, por ejemplo, el organismo independiente de control Centro por la Integridad Pública, divulgó en su sitio web información sobre el flujo de miles de millones de dólares del Pentágono a gobiernos represivos como los de Djibouti, Etiopía, Pakistán y Uzbekistán, fondos que el Departamento de Estado muy probablemente no habría aprobado siguiendo las disposiciones sobre derechos humanos incluidas en las leyes estadounidenses sobre ayuda exterior.

El proyecto de investigación del Centro por la Integridad Pública, titulado "Daño colateral", concluyó que el Congreso ejerció poca o ninguna vigilancia sobre el desembolso de esa ayuda.

Informes de la Oficina de Responsabilidad Gubernamental del Congreso, e incluso del Comité de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado, han reflejado también la preocupación de que la influencia y las operaciones en el exterior del Departamento de Estado y de otras agencias civiles están siendo eclipsadas por los mayores recursos del Pentágono y sus comandantes combatientes...

Nombre del FicheroFormato Real PlayerFormato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
dosmil Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:08:09 ESL/SPA


April 2007

Fichero AudioBM - Piden la dimisión del Presidente del Banco Mundial, Paul Wolfowitz, por corrupción y nepotismo. (International Press Service). Radio Nizkor, 15abr07.


Numerosas organizaciones no gubernamentales, ex altos funcionarios del Banco Mundial y el sindicato de la institución piden la renuncia de Wolfowitz por favorecer, de manera impropia y en violación de los protocolos internos, a su novia, Shaha Riza, con un aumento de salario y una transferencia al Departamento de Estado estadounidense. La polémica por este asunto se incrementó además por nuevas revelaciones sobre pasadas irregularidades de la funcionaria.

"Según el no gubernamental Government Accountability Project (GAP, Proyecto para la Responsabilidad del Gobierno), con sede en Washington, que investigó el caso desde el comienzo, fuentes internas del Banco confirmaron que Riza nunca había solicitado ni recibido permiso del organismo para trabajar en el SAIC, el mayor contratista de defensa del gobierno de Estados Unidos cuando Wolfowitz se desempeñaba como subsecretario de Defensa... La Junta del organismo multilateral no estaba al tanto de los generosos aumentos de salario que recibió Riza pese a que se encontraba en una "misión externa" en el Departamento de Estado de Estados Unidos."

Por su parte, el sindicato del Banco Mundial ha pedido la renuncia de Wolfowitz, pues "su conducta puso en tela de juicio la integridad y eficacia del Grupo del Banco Mundial y destruyó la confianza de sus empleados en su liderazgo". El sindicato advierte que no hubo representación de la asesoría legal del Banco durante las negociaciones del nuevo contrato de Shaha Riza, su pareja, aunque sí estaba presente su propio abogado personal. Señala también que el ex consejero general del Banco, Roberto Danino, rechazó los términos de la transferencia de la funcionaria al Departamento de Estado, lo que llevó a Wolfowitz a excluirlo de las negociaciones del contrato...

A todo ello se añade el hecho de que el actual presidente del Banco Mundial fue uno de los principales ideólogos de la invasión a Iraq, y que de los cinco nombramientos de altos funcionarios internacionales realizados por Wolfowitz en sus dos años en la presidencia del Banco, tres correspondieron a miembros de gobiernos que apoyaron la guerra de Estados Unidos contra Iraq: se trata del nuevo vicepresidente para Asuntos Externos del Banco y ex viceprimer ministro de Jordania, Marwan Muasher; la ex Ministra española de Asuntos Exteriores, Ana Palacio, nombrada Primera Vicepresidenta y Consejera Jurídica General del Grupo del Banco Mundial en junio de 2006; y Juan José Daboub, ex ministro de Finanzas de El Salvador y que se desempeña ahora como uno de los dos directores gerente del Banco.

Estos hechos llevan también a pensar que "Paul Wolfowitz usó su cargo para recompensar a gobiernos y personas que ayudaron a Estados Unidos en la guerra de Iraq", tal y como declaró el director del Programa Estratégico de la organización no gubernamental New America Foundation, Steven Clemens...

El formato Real Media de este fichero, permite visualizar documentos de análisis contextual sincronizadamente con el audio. Esto es posible con el programa Real One Player. Más Información.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
wolfo Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:19:05 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa - Statement by Senator Edward M. Kennedy on Restoring the Rule of Law and Repairing the Supreme Court Nomination Process. (Alliance for Justice). Radio Nizkor, 12Apr07

Senator Kennedy gave a major policy speech on "Restoring the Rule of Law and Repairing the Supreme Court Nomination Process" at an event organized by the Alliance for Justice on March 29, 2007. Said event was held at the National Press Club.

Senator Kennedy spoke on constitutional checks and balances, the Supreme Court, and judicial nominations:

He stated that "At the heart of many of the serious challenges we face is the Bush administration's lack of respect for the rule of law. The administration views our system of justice as merely another arena for furthering its rightwing ideology. It sees the Senate's constitutional role in confirming those who enforce our laws as a road block to be circumvented whenever possible.

The ongoing scandal over the firing of United States attorneys is a stunning example. Using a stealth provision slipped into the Patriot Act reauthorization, the administration has replaced US attorneys without Senate review..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
afjkennedy Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:30:01 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - La Corte Suprema decidió no resolver sobre la cuestión del centro de detención ilegal de Guantánamo. (International Press service). Radio Nizkor, 08Abr07

"La indolencia de la Corte Suprema de Justicia de Estados Unidos ante el clamor de los más de 300 detenidos en la base naval de este país en Guantánamo, Cuba, es objeto de duros cuestionamientos por parte de activistas y expertos en derechos humanos.

La Corte decidió el 2 de abril no atender los casos de los musulmanes tomados prisioneros en la "guerra" de Estados Unidos "contra el terrorismo" y recluidos en Guantánamo, hasta que no se agoten las vías legales en tribunales de apelaciones de menor rango.

Como consecuencia, el principal tribunal estadounidense se negó a revisar la legalidad de la detención hasta que se cumplan, en todos los casos, los procedimientos previstos en la Ley de Tratamiento a Detenidos (DTA), aprobada en 2005.

Esa norma permite apelaciones de las decisiones tomadas por paneles militares ante tribunales civiles, pero muy limitadas...

Los tres jueces que redactaron el fallo, Anthony M. Kennedy y John Paul Stevens, anotaron que deseaban ver el proceso establecido por la DTA en acción antes de determinar si se trata de un sustituto adecuado para el hábeas corpus...

Abogados del Centro para los Derechos Constitucionales consideraron que el proceso en estos tribunales es "una farsa"..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
suprema Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:21 ESL/SPA


May 2006

Fichero AudioUsa - CIA expands operational file secrecy and Department of Defense seeks a broad new exemption from FOIA. (Project on Government Secrecy of the Federation of American Scientists). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 07May06


"The Central Intelligence Agency conducted a review of its "operational files" last year, as it is required to do every ten years under the CIA Information Act of 1984, to see if any such files could have their "operational" designation rescinded, making them subject to Freedom of Information Act requests... But instead of removing any files from operational status, as contemplated by the 1984 Act, the CIA added nearly two dozen new categories of files that will now be exempt from search and review under the FOIA, according to a newly disclosed report to Congress."

On the other hand, "The Department of Defense is seeking a broad new exemption from the Freedom of Information Act for unclassified information relating to weapons of mass destruction. According to the proposed legislation, 'Examples of such information could include ... formulas and design descriptions of lethal and incapacitating materials; maps, designs, security/emergency response plans, and vulnerability assessments for facilities containing weapons of mass destruction materials.' The proposal is puzzling because most such information, including that which is not classified, is already exempt from the FOIA..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
secrecy Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:51 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - U.S. to switch from a "data preservation" to a EU-like "data retention" system that could pose serious privacy risks. (Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 07May06


The Electronic Privacy Information Center, EPIC, informs that Members of Congress are calling for laws in the United States that would compel Internet service providers and telecom companies to store information about their customers for months or years and make those records available to the police upon request...

To date, law enforcement has not been able to show that retaining all users' data helps to solve criminal cases. Traffic data is seldom essential in criminal investigations and data retained for longer than 6 months is rarely useful.

Retaining all customer data could also raise serious security and privacy risks..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
epic1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:18:26 ENG


April 2006

Fichero AudioUsa - Denuncian que al menos 600 funcionarios estarían implicados en delitos de tortura en Afganistán, Iraq y Guantánamo. (Inter Press Service News Agency). Radio Nizkor, 27abr06


Dos años después de conocidos los abusos a presos en la cárcel bagdadí de Abu Ghraib a manos de soldados de Estados Unidos, la justicia se muestra lenta en procesar a los acusados, según tres importantes organizaciones de derechos humanos.

Los redactores del informe constataron un patrón generalizado de maltrato en varios centros de detención, así como casos de tortura lisa y llana y al menos ocho homicidios.

El estudio registró 330 casos creíbles de abuso, que involucraron a 600 funcionarios estadounidenses y a 460 víctimas, en Afganistán, Iraq y el enclave naval del país norteamericano en Guantánamo, Cuba, desde fines de 2001...

El informe titulado "By The Numbers", consta de 27 páginas, y es el resultado de un proyecto conjunto denominado "Hallazgos del Proyecto sobre Abuso de Detenidos y Responsabilidad", que integran Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch y el Centro de Derechos Humanos y Justicia Global de la Universidad de Nueva York.

"Nuestra investigación demuestra que los abusos contra detenidos eran generalizados, y que pocos (responsables) fueron puestos verdaderamente a disposición de la justicia", agregó.

Apenas tres oficiales fueron condenados en tribunales marciales por su participación en abusos de detenidos, y ninguno por la doctrina de la responsabilidad de la cadena de mando.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
abu Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:51 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa - In a Freedom of Information Act Lawsuit, Former Top Official in the US Justice Department Concludes that Surveillance Program was Illegal. (Electronic Privacy Information Center). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 23Apr06


"In December 2005, the New York Times reported that President Bush secretly issued an executive order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct warrantless surveillance of international telephone and Internet communications on American soil. President Bush acknowledged the existence of the NSA surveillance program and vowed that its activities would continue.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC- submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the NSA and four Department of Justice components just hours after the existence of the warrantless surveillance program was first reported. Noting the extraordinary public interest in the program — and its potential illegality — EPIC asked the agencies to expedite the processing of the requests...

Documents obtained by EPIC earlier in March 2006, through the FOIA litigation, reveal that a former top official in the Justice Department doubted that the domestic surveillace program was allowed under the Authorization for Use of Military Force Resolution..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
epic Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:10:07 ENG


December 2005

Fichero AudioUsa - U.S. secret detention facilities in Europe catch the attention of the Council of Europe. (The New York Times; Human Rights Watch; Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 03Dec05


"When the Bush administration rewrote the rules for dealing with prisoners after 9/11, needlessly scrapping the Geneva Conventions and American law, it ignored the objections of lawyers for the armed services. Now, heedless of the lessons of Abu Ghraib, the civilians are once again running over the people in uniform. Tim Golden and Eric Schmitt reported yesterday in The Times that the administration is blocking the Pentagon from adopting the language of the Geneva Conventions to set rules for handling prisoners in the so-called war on terror...

Dana Priest reports in The Washington Post that even the Central Intelligence Agency's clandestine operators are getting nervous about the network of secret prisons they have around the world - including, of all places, at a Soviet-era compound in Eastern Europe."

"Human Rights Watch has conducted independent research on the existence of secret detention locations that corroborates the Washington Post's allegations that there were detention facilities in Eastern Europe." Specifically, Human Rights Watch "have collected information that CIA airplanes traveling from Afghanistan in 2003 and 2004 made direct flights to remote airfields in Poland and Romania."

In turn, On November 7th. 2005, the Legal Affairs Committee of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) appointed its Chairperson Dick Marty (from Switzerland, member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe) as rapporteur to examine the subject of alleged secret CIA detention centres...

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
prisons Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:13:57 ESL/SPA


November 2005

Fichero AudioUsa - Graham amendment passes, stripping federal courts of jurisdiction to hear applications for habeas corpus. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 15Nov05


"The Bush Administration, through an amendment introduced by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, has successfully stripped federal courts of jurisdiction to hear applications for habeas corpus brought by those unilaterally declared enemy combatants without any process and held by the U.S. indefinitely throughout the world and even in the United States.

This was accomplished by means of a last minute amendment to the Military Authorization Bill, brought up on the floor of the Senate without committee deliberations and virtually no advance warning to the American people that it was happening.

It was not only human rights groups like the Center for Constitutional Rights, but many in the military or retired from the military who opposed the Graham amendment: Judge John Gibbons, who argued the landmark case Rasul v. Bush before the Supreme Court; John Hutson, Dean of Franklin Pierce Law Center and former Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Navy, and the National Institute for Military Justice, among others, wrote open letters to the Senate to oppose the dismantling of habeas corpus..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
graham Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:01 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa/Cidh - La Commission interaméricaine des droits de l'Homme étend les mesures de précaution en faveur des détenus de Guantanamo. (Clinique de Droit International des Droits de l'Homme de l'Université Américaine de Washington, Centre pour les Droits Constitutionnels). Radio Nizkor, 14Nov05


Le 2 novembre 2005, la Commission interaméricaine des droits de l'Homme a étendu les mesures de précaution en faveur des personnes indéfiniment détenues à Guantanamo par les Etats-Unis.

Les avocats de la Clinique de Droit International des Droits de l'Homme de la Faculté de Droit de l'Université Américaine de Washington et du Centre pour les Droits Constitutionnels, ont tenu une audience auprès de la commission, le 20 octobre.

Les mesures de la commission incluent les demandes suivantes :

  • que le gouvernement des Etats-Unis garantisse que les détenus de Guantanamo ne soient pas transférés dans un pays dans lequel il existe des motifs substanciels leur faisant courir un risque d'être soumis à la torture ou à tout autre type de mauvais traitement ;
  • que les Etats-Unis, en conformité avec le droit international, interdisent que toute déclaration obtenue sous la torture soit utilisée dans une procédure judiciaire ;
  • que le gouvernement instruise et juge les cas d'abus et de torture, ce qui signifie que le Ministère de la Défense ne doit pas pouvoir continuer à enquêter sur ses propres actes ;
  • et que ce soit un tribunal compétent qui détermine la condition juridique des détenus de Guantanamo, ce qui n'a pas été convenablement fait par les tribunaux militaires, ni par les procédures d'habeas corpus entamées jusqu'à présent.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
gtmofr Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:07:53 FRA



Fichero AudioUsa - Le NYT dénonce que le gouvernement Bush prétend légaliser la torture et les prisons clandestines. (The New York Times). Radio Nizkor, 14Nov05


"Lorsque l'Administration Bush a réécrit les règles de traitement des prisonniers à la suite du 11 septembre, en piétinant sans nécessité les conventions de Genève et le droit américain, elle a ignoré les objections des avocats des services militaires.

Aujourd'hui, ils font la sourde oreille face aux leçons d'Abu Ghraib : les civils de la maison blanches se sont de nouveau jetés sur les militaires. Tim Golden et Eric Schmitt ont annoncé hier dans le Times que l'administration empêche le Pentagone d'adopter les termes des conventions de Genève pour établir les règles sur le traitement des prisoniers dans ladite guerre contre le terrorisme...

M. Cheney, pièce détachée dans l'intention de légaliser la torture, est aujourd'hui à la tête d'une lutte en coulisses pour bloquer une mesure adoptée par le sénat, à 90 voix pour et 9 contre, qui imposerait les normes internationales et la législation américaine concernant le traitemant des prisonniers. M. Cheney voudrait une version différente, une version qui légalise les camps de la CIA, bien qu'ils soient occultes, et qui autorise l'usage de la torture par des agents de l'Intelligence. En conséquence, M. Bush a menacé d'exercer son droit de veto sur le budget militaire..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
prisons Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:31 FRA



Fichero AudioUsa/Iachr - Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Extends Precautionary Measures on Guantánamo Detainees. (Int. Human Rights Law Clinic at American University of Washington; Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 12nov05


On November 2, 2005, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights extended precautionary measures for the men being held indefinitely at Guantánamo Bay by the U.S. government.

Attorneys from the International Human Rights Clinic at American University's Washington College of Law and the Center for Constitutional Rights had a hearing before the Commission on October 20th.

The Commission's measures included requests:

  • that the U.S. government ensure the detainees at Guantánamo are not transferred to countries where there are substantial grounds for believing they would be in danger of being subjected to torture or other mistreatment;
  • that the U.S., in accordance with international law, not permit any statement obtained under torture to be used in a legal proceeding;
  • that the government investigate and prosecute instances of abuse and torture, which does not mean letting the Department of Defense continue to investigate itself; and
  • to have the legal status of the Guantánamo detainees determined by a competent tribunal, which has not been adequately addressed by the military tribunals or the habeas corpus proceedings to date.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
ccr Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:48 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa - El NYT denuncia que el Gobierno Bush pretende legalizar la tortura y las cárceles clandestinas. (The New York Times). Radio Nizkor, 06Nov05.


"Cuando la administración Bush rescribió las reglas de trato de los presos después del 11S, arremetiendo sin necesidad contra las Convenciones de Ginebra y el derecho americano, ignoró las objeciones de los propios abogados de los servicios militares.

Ahora, haciendo oídos sordos a las lecciones de Abu Ghraib, los civiles se echan de nuevo sobre los uniformados. Tim Golden y Eric Schmitt informaban en The Times que la administración está impidiendo que el Pentágono adopte los términos propios de las Convenciones de Ginebra para establecer las reglas en el manejo y trato de prisioneros en la llamada guerra contra el terrorismo...

El Sr. Cheney, pieza destacada en el intento de legalizar la tortura, dirige ahora una lucha entre bastidores para bloquear una medida aprobada por el senado, por 90 votos a favor y 9 en contra, que impondría las normas internacionales y la legislación americana en el tratamiento a los prisioneros.

El Sr. Cheney quiere una versión diferente, una versión que trasforme en legales los campos de la CIA, aunque sigan ocultos, y que autorice el uso de la tortura por parte de los agentes de inteligencia..."

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
tort Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:45 ESL/SPA


August 2005

Fichero AudioUsa - Pentagon thinking up scenarios for martial law in US. (The Washington Post). Radio Nizkor, 10Aug05.


According to a report published on August 8, 2005 by the Washington Post, "the U.S. military has devised its first-ever war plans for guarding against and responding to terrorist attacks in the United States, envisioning 15 potential crisis scenarios and anticipating several simultaneous strikes around the country, according to officers who drafted the plans".

The report - elaborated by Bradley Graham, Washington Post Staff Writer - says that "the classified plans, developed at Northern Command headquarters, outline a variety of possible roles for quick-reaction forces estimated at as many as 3,000 ground troops per attack, a number that could easily grow depending on the extent of the damage and the abilities of civilian response teams.

The possible scenarios range from "low end," relatively modest crowd-control missions to "high-end," full-scale disaster management after catastrophic attacks such as the release of a deadly biological agent or the explosion of a radiological device, several officers said"...

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
martial Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:11 ENG


May 2005

Fichero AudioUsa - La visita de Condoleezza Rice a Brasil consolida la diplomacia brasileña en América Latina. (Semanario Terraviva de la Agencia IPS). Radio Nizkor, 02may05.

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
rice Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:05:58 ESL/SPA


March 2005

Fichero AudioUsa - Opening of CIA records under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act must continue, according to US Senate. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 14Mar05

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
nazi Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:10:01 ENG


December 2004

Fichero AudioIcc/Usa - President Bush signs anti-ICC Nethercutt Amendment and sanctions countries that support the ICC. (American Non-Governmental Organizations Coalition for the ICC; Citizens for Global Solutions). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 20Dec04


On December 7, 2004 President Bush signed into effect the so-called Nethercutt Amendment, which suspends Economic Support Fund assistance to States Parties to the International Criminal Court or ICC who have not signed bilateral immunity agreements with the US.

What the Nethercutt Amendment does is exempt all U.S. nationals and contractors with the US from accountability for widespread and systematic war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide committed on the territory of a signatory country.

On December 9th., 2004 the Dutch European Union Presidency made public its Declaration on the Nethercutt amendment, regretting its adoption...

The US has deployed its anti-ICC efforts during previous congressional sessions. The House and the Senate had approved on July 2002 another piece of legislation prohibiting US cooperation with the International Criminal Court: the American Servicemembers' Protection Act or ASPA...

The Bush Administration has also been conducting a vigorous campaign of trying to conclude bilateral international agreements that will remove US nationals from the reach of the Court. These are the so-called "Article 98 bilateral agreements"...

Also recently, the US has deployed its anti-ICC efforts before the UN General Assembly, where the US attempted to have the ICC taken off the UN General Assembly agenda. However, on November 19th, 2004, the GA Sixth Committee (Legal) unanimously passed its resolution (and corrigendum) on the ICC without a vote...When the GA Plenary adopted the resolution on December 2, 2004, the US delegation dissociated itself from consensus on the resolution.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
iccus Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:19:20 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Attorneys representing several Guantanamo detainees challenge the Administration's effort to undermine Supreme Court's decision in Rasul v. Bush. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 20Dec04.


On December 1st, 2004, the Center for Constitutional Rights asked two federal court judges to forcefully reject the Bush Administration's effort to dismiss 12 Habeas Corpus petitions brought on behalf of individuals detained at Guantanamo Bay.

In an extraordinary move, the government has essentially sought to overturn the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the landmark case Rasul v. Bush.

On November 5th, 2004, a group of attorneys representing several Guantanamo detainees submitted a Memorandum in opposition to the government's motion to dismiss the instant habeas petitions.

The Petitioners assert in their Memorandum the following:

  • that the President's exercise of his war powers is subject to judicial review
  • that the Supreme Court has already determined that the Guantanamo detainees have stated a claim
  • that pertinent case law, moreover, confirms that the detainees have due process rights under the Constitution that they may vindicate through habeas actions.
  • that the detainees also have rights under the Geneva Conventions and other international law that may be vindicated in a habeas action and,
  • that the detainees have common law rights that inhere in the habeas statute and do not depend upon the cognizability of rights otherwise provided by the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States.

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
habeas Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:30:53 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - A coalition of civil liberties groups filed a "friend of the court" brief to overturn a controversial ruling on email privacy. (Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 08Dec04.


On November 12th. 2004, a coalition of civil liberties groups filed a "friend of the court" brief encouraging the First Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a controversial ruling on email privacy.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center or "EPIC", American Library Association, American Civil Liberties Union and Center for National Security Studies, argue in their brief that "the panel's decision creates serious constitutional questions under the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable search and seizure."

The issue in this case is whether an "intercept" of a communication occurred within the meaning of the Wiretap Act. In other words, whether email can be "intercepted" in violation of federal wiretap law while it is temporarily stored on an email server -- even if only for a fraction of a second...

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
epic Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:39 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Eight U.S. soldiers filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Armed Services' so-called "stop loss" policy. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor, 08Dec04.


"On December 6, 2004, eight U.S. soldiers – five stationed in Iraq, two in Kuwait on their way to Iraq, and one home on leave from Iraq about to be shipped back – filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Armed Services' so-called "stop loss" policy, which would require them to serve beyond their enlistment contracts...

Specialist Qualls and John Does 1 through 6 have each served out their full contracts but are being forced to extend their service. Specialist Qualls and John Does 1 and 2 had enlisted in the “Try One” program of the Army National Guard, which allows a veteran “to serve for only one year on a trial basis before committing to full enlistment."

File nameReal Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
soldiers Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:10 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - US District Judge rules in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld that the Geneva Conventions protect those incarcerated at Guantánamo. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Schell Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 07Dec04.


In a decision dated November 8, 2004, US District Judge James Robertson ruled that it is unlawful to try prisoners detained at Guantánamo by the currently constituted Military Commissions.

"In his ruling on Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, Judge Robertson asserted that the Geneva Conventions - the conventions signed by the United States and countries all over the world to govern the conduct of nations during wartime - protect those incarcerated at Guantánamo."

According to the Court, all those arrested in or around the conflict in Afghanistan must be treated as prisoners of war if there is any doubt as to their status.

Under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war must be provided the same legal process as the soldiers in the armed forces of the capturing army. Mr. Hamdan, the petitioner in the case, is, therefore, entitled to have his case heard by a properly convened military court or courts martial as defined under United States law...

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
hamdan Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:23:31 ENG


November 2004

Fichero AudioUsa - US District Judge rejected the government's increasing move toward secret and coercive investigatory tactics in the post-9/11 environment. Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 12Nov04.


In the case of Doe and ACLU v. Ashcroft et al., US District Judge Victor Marrero ruled, on September 28th, 2004, that "the compulsory, secret, and unreviewable production of information required by the FBI's application of 18 U.S.C. § 2709 violates the Fourth Amendment, and that the non-disclosure provision of 18 U.S.C. § 2709 (c) violates the First Amendment."

Plaintiffs in this case, "John Doe" - an internet access firm -, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the American Civil Liberties Foundation, "challenge the constitutionality of 18 U.S.C. § 2709. That statute authorizes the Federal Bureau of Investigations to compel communications firms, such as internet service providers (ISPs) or telephone companies, to produce certain customer records whenever the FBI certifies that those records are "relevant to an authorized investigation to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities".

The FBI demands under § 2709 are issued in the form of national security letters (NSLs), which constitute a unique form of administrative subpoena cloaked in secrecy and pertaining to national security issues. The statute bars all national security letters recipients from ever disclosing that the FBI has issued an National Security Letter.

The Court concluded that § 2709 violates the Fourth Amendment because, at least as currently applied, it effectively bars or substantially deters any judicial challenge to the propriety of an National Security Letter request. And also, that the permanent ban on disclosure contained in § 2709 (c) operates as an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech of the First Amendment.

    "In general, as our sunshine laws and judicial doctrine attest, democracy abhors undue secrecy, in recognition that public knowledge secures freedom. Hence, an unlimited government warrant to conceal, effectively a form of secrecy per se, has no place in our open society.

    Such a claim is especially inimical to democratic values for reasons borne out by painful experience. Under the mantle of secrecy, the self-preservation that ordinarily impels our government to censorship and secrecy may potentially be turned on ourselves as a weapon of self-destruction.

    When withholding information from disclosure is no longer justified, when it ceases to foster the proper aims that initially may have supported confidentially, a categorical and uncritical extension of non-disclosure may become the cover for spurious ends that government may then deem too inconvenient, inexpedient, merely embarrassing, or even illicit to ever expose to the light of day.

    At that point, secrecy’s protective shield may serve not as much to secure a safe country as simply to save face."

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
nsl Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:27:34 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - La ACLU renuncia a la financiación de las Fundaciones Ford y Rockefeller por estar sujeta a un acuerdo restrictivo de las libertades civiles. (American Civil Liberties Union). Radio Nizkor, 08nov04.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
acluesp Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:04:15 ESL/SPA


October 2004

Fichero AudioUsa - ACLU Declines Ford and Rockefeller Grants Due to Restrictive Funding Agreement. (American Civil Liberties Union). Radio Nizkor, 22Oct04.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
aclu Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:04:02 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - U.S. Southern Command (SouthCom) Struggles to Justify its Role in the War on Terror. (Council On Hemispheric Affairs - COHA). Radio Nizkor with the collaboration of the Orville H. Schell, Jr. Center for International Human Rights at Yale Law School, 11Oct04.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
southcom Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:14:36 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Update on the situation of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay and the current status of legal issues relating to this matter. (By Richard Wilson). Radio Nizkor, 02oct04.



Richard Wilson is Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic at the American University of Washington and Equipo Nizkor collaborator.

This audio report is an update of the speech previously delivered, in March 2003, at the Seminar on "States of Exception and Strategies for Peace and for the Defense of Civil Rights", under the title: "US policy after 9/11: The situation of Detainees at Guantánamo Bay and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission Response".

Richard Wilson speaks about the developments in relationship to the individuals detained in Guantanamo Bay that have happened since that previous presentation, covering mainly the following topics:

  • Information about children detained at Guantanamo
  • Relationship of the Guantanamo Bay situation and the torture scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq
  • Publication of internal Memoranda within the Bush Administration with regard to the approval of the use of torture by high ranking government lawyers
  • The very important decisions of the US Supreme Court in June of 2004
  • Current status of legal issues in Guantanamo
  • Legal strategy pursued by lawyers in the U.S. in addressing those current issues
  • Potential resources for further reading

Nombre del Fichero Real Media formatmp3 format Duration Language
gtmorw Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 01:24:38 ENG


September 2004

Fichero AudioUsa - Entrevista a Michael Levine, ex oficial de la DEA, acerca de la política estadounidense de control de tráfico de drogas. (Equipo Nizkor). Radio Nizkor, 26sep04.



Gregorio Dionis, Director del Equipo Nizkor, entrevista a Michael Levine, ex oficial de la DEA y agregado de esta agencia en Argentina y Uruguay entre 1979 y 1982.

Esta entrevista se realizó en el marco del "Seminario sobre estados de excepción y estrategias para la paz y la defensa de los derechos civiles", organizado por el Equipo Nizkor y celebrado en Bruselas del 27 al 29 de marzo de 2003.

Se trata de un testimonio único de alguien que conoció profundamente la relación entre los servicios de inteligencia y los mercados de producción y distribución de droga, tanto en el Sudeste Asiático como en América Latina.

Michael Levine nos habla, entre otras cuestiones, acerca de:

  • Sus inicios en la DEA como agente secreto.
  • Quién era Roberto Suárez, su relación con los denominados "Novios de la Muerte" del ex SS Klaus Barbie, y la política de Seguridad Nacional a principios de los '80 en países como Bolivia, Paraguay, etc... y de cómo muchos de los mercenarios de Roberto Suárez eran informantes de la CIA.
  • El golpe de estado, conocido como el "Golpe de la Coca", llevado a cabo en Bolivia con la intervención de la Marina Argentina y la colaboración de Roberto Suárez.
  • La relación de la mafia corsa con el Cártel de Juárez y los militares argentinos (caso Auguste Ricord).
  • La relación entre las operaciones encubiertas o guerra sucia en zonas como Centroamérica o Afganistán y el narcotráfico.
  • El caso de Centroamérica en los años 80-83 y similitud con el escenario actual colombiano.
  • Relación entre crimen organizado, tráfico de drogas, lavado de dinero y servicios de inteligencia.
  • Por qué la guerra contra las drogas es una estafa para el contribuyente estadounidense.
  • El problema del uso de informantes falsos.
  • Las políticas anti narcóticos después del 11/9.

Nombre del Fichero Real Media formatmp3 format Duration Language
levine Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 01:02:13 ESL/SPA


August 2004

Fichero AudioSlv - El ex Capitán Salvadoreño Álvaro Saravia será juzgado en ausencia en los Estados Unidos por su participación en el asesinato de Monseñor Romero. Radio Nizkor con información de la CIDH y del Center for Justice and Accountability, 16ago04.

File nameReal Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
romero Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:14:27 ESL/SPA


July 2004

Fichero AudioCol - El candidato presidencial John Kerry y 22 senadores estadounidenses se distancian de la política del Departamento de Estado hacia Colombia. Radio Nizkor, 31jul04

File name Real Media format Mp3 format Duration Language
kerry Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:07:57 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa - Riggs Bank account managers took actions consistent with helping Mr. Pinochet to evade legal proceedings. (Money Laundering and Foreign Corruption: Enforcement and Effectiveness of the Patriot Act. Case Study Involving Riggs Bank. Report prepared by the Minority Staff of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the US Senate). Radio Nizkor, 30Jul04.

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
riggs Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:20:08 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Homeland Security Secretary has stated that the second generation of CAPPS (Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System) has been discontinued. (Electronic Privacy Information Center - EPIC). Radio Nizkor, 27Jul04.

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
capps Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:10:10 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - En contra de la opinión de la Casa Blanca, el Tribunal Supremo confirma la aplicación del ATCA (Alien Tort Claims Act) en casos de delitos comúnmente aceptados como violaciones al derecho internacional. (Earth Rights International / Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor, 19Jul04.


El Tribunal Supremo de los Estados Unidos dictó sentencia, el 29 de junio de 2004, en el caso Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain.

La resolución de este caso podía afectar a la posibilidad que tienen las víctimas extranjeras de violaciones a los derechos humanos de interponer demandas, de corte civil, ante los tribunales estadounidenses por hechos acaecidos fuera de los Estados Unidos.

Si bien el Supremo no dio la razón al Sr. Alvarez-Machain, rechazó en cambio el intento de la Administración Bush de eliminar la posibilidad que tienen las víctimas de violaciones a los derechos humanos de llevar sus casos ante los tribunales de Estados Unidos al amparo de una ley conocida por su acrónimo en inglés, ATCA, esto es, Alien Tort Claims Act o Ley de Reclamación for Daños contra Extranjeros...

Nombre del Fichero Real Media formatmp3 format Duration Language
atcasp Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:07:17 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa - The attorneys representing nine Guantanamo detainees file five Habeas Corpus petitions on their behalf. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor, 14Jul04.

Nombre del Fichero Real Media formatmp3 format Duration Language
hcorpus Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:03:36 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - U.S. Supreme Court recognizes that non-U.S. citizens may continue to sue their abusers in U.S. federal court under the Alien Tort Claims Act. (Earth Rights International / Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor, 14Jul04.

Nombre del Fichero Real Media formatmp3 format Duration Language
atca Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:06:00 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Supreme Court rules that foreign terrorism suspects may use the US legal system to challenge their detention. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor, 07Jul04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real PlayerFormato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
gtmosce Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:09:46 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - Informe sobre el fallo del Tribunal Supremo con relación al uso del "Habeas Corpus" por parte de los presos de Guantánamo. (Center for Constitutional Rights con traducción del Equipo Nizkor). Radio Nizkor, 06Jul04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real PlayerFormato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
gtmousc Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:12:35 ESL/SPA


June 2004

Fichero AudioUsa - Center for Constitutional Rights files lawsuit against US corporations involved in torture in Iraq. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor, 11Jun04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real PlayerFormato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
titantort Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:05:47 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa - El Center for Constitutional Rights ha demandado a dos empresas de Estados Unidos implicadas en torturas en Iraq. (Center for Constitutional Rights). Radio Nizkor, 11jun04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real PlayerFormato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
titan Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:06:20 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa - American Librarians and the ACLU oppose the Patriot Act and the Bush administration’s claim that it should be made permanent. (American Library Association / American Civil Liberties Union). Radio Nizkor, 06Jun04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real Player Formato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
patriot1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:09:51 ENG



May 2004

Fichero AudioInterview with Benjamin Ferencz, former Nuremberg Prosecutor and peace advocate. Radio Nizkor, 30May04.


Radio Nizkor has interviewed Benjamin Ferencz on a number of issues which concern the developments and current situation with regard to international law. Benjamin Ferencz is a former Nuremberg Prosecutor and a peace advocate. He is Adjunct Professor of International Law at Pace University and founder of the Pace Peace Center.

We have asked Benjamin Ferencz to tell us about the following:

  • His indictment in the Einsatzgruppen case and the "criminal organization" nature of these extermination units.
  • His analysis on the current situation surrounding the Internacional Criminal Court.
  • About the supreme crime of all international crimes, that is to say, the crime of aggression.
  • The US performance of going into war in Iraq leaving aside the UN.
  • The problems arising from the deterioration of civil liberties after 9/11, specially in the US.
  • Torture in Iraq.

This interview was recorded on May 24, 2004 using a Telos communication system between Radio Nizkor's studios in Madrid and New Rochelle, NY.

File name Real Player format Mp3 format Time (minutes) Language
ferencz Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:44:56 ENG



Fichero AudioEU - EU/US agreement on passenger data denounced by human rights and civil liberties groups. (StateWatch). Radio Nizkor, 27May04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real Player Formato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
pnrdata Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:07:25 ENG



Fichero AudioIrq/Usa - Condenan como desertor a un sargento objetor de conciencia que es hijo del músico nicaragüense Carlos Mejía Godoy. Radio Nizkor, 24may04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real PlayerFormato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
godoy Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:05:38 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioUsa - Torture scandal is "predictable result" of US detention policies and the related information must be disclosed. (Federation of American Scientists / American Civil Liberties Union). Radio Nizkor, 13may04.

File name Real Player format Mp3 format Time (minutes) Language
excep2 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:10:50 ENG



Fichero AudioUsa/Irq - The World Organisation Against Torture calls for effective investigation into acts of torture in Iraq. (OMCT). Radio Nizkor, 06may04.

File name Real Player format Mp3 format Time (minutes) Language
excep1 Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:03:38 ENG



April 2004

Fichero AudioIrq/Gbr/Usa - British senior officer says US soldiers view Iraqis as "untermenschen". (The Daily Telegraph). Radio Nizkor, 30abr04.

File name Real Player format Mp3 format Time (minutes) Language
unter Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:04:17 ENG



Fichero AudioOnu - Cuba retira la propuesta de resolución sobre los detenidos en Guantánamo. (IPS). Radio Nizkor, 26abr04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real Player Formato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
gtmoinfo3 Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:04:43 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioIrq/Gbr/Usa - Altos oficiales británicos dicen que los militares norteamericanos consideran a los iraquíes como "untermenschen". (The Daily Telegraph, traducción de Radio Nizkor). Radio Nizkor, 19abr04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real PlayerFormato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
gbrus Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:04:59 ESL/SPA



Fichero AudioOnu/Cub - Cuba presenta el caso de los presos de Guantánamo tras la Resolución en su contra en Ginebra.
Radio Nizkor con información propia y de la Agencia IPS, 16abr04

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real Player Formato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
cubgtmo Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:10:57 ESL/SPA



March 2004

Fichero AudioGtmo - Resolution of the International Federation of Human Rights on the Guantanamo Bay detainees.
Statement approved at the XXXV Congress of the FIDH, held in Quito, Ecuador, 2-6 March 2004. Radio Nizkor, 27mar04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real Player Formato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
gtmoinfo2 Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:05:25 ENG



Fichero AudioIrq - Former UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, says that the Iraq war was illegal. (The Independent, UK). Radio Nizkor, 27Mar04.

File name Real Player format Mp3 format Time (minutes) Language
blix Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 00:05:41 ENG


Fichero AudioDeclaración de la FIDH sobre la situación de los presos de Guantánamo.
Declaración aprobada en el XXXV Congreso de la FIDH, celebrado en Quito, Ecuador, del 2 al 6 de marzo de 2004. Radio Nizkor, 19mar04.

Nombre del Fichero Formato Real Player Formato mp3 Duración en minutos Idioma
gtmoinfo1 Haz click aquí REAL PLAYER Haz click aquí MP3 00:05:31 ESL/SPA



February 2004

Fichero AudioUS policy after 9/11: The situation of Detainees at Guantanamo Bay and the Inter-American Human Rights Commission Response.
By Richard Wilson, Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Law Clinic, American University Washington, D.C. Radio Nizkor, 13Feb04


This speech by Prof. Richard Wilson was delivered at the seminar on "States of Exception and Strategies for Peace and for the Defence of Civil Rights", organized by Equipo Nizkor and held in Brussels between the 27th. and the 29th. of March 2003.

Richard Wilson analyses the "legal black hole" surrounding the status of the Guantanamo detainees, as well as the question of precautionary measures that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has asked the US government to adopt.

The Commission decided during its 114th regular period of sessions to adopt precautionary measures on behalf of the Guantanamo detainees. The Commission asserted that:

    "....where persons find themselves within the authority and control of a state and where a circumstance of armed conflict may be involved, their fundamental rights may be determined in part by reference to international humanitarian law as well as international human rights law. Where it may be considered that the protections of international humanitarian law do not apply, however, such persons remain the beneficiaries at least of the non-derogable protections under international human rights law. In short, no person under the authority and control of a state, regardless of his or her circumstances, is devoid of legal protection for his or her fundamental and non-derogable human rights".

What is this "Legal Black Hole" and what is the executive branch's theory as to why these individuals are caught there?

"The US applies a perverse logic to conclude that all the individuals detained in Guantamo are 'unlawful combatants' ".

This is what Richard Wilson clearly explains us.

This speech was first recorded in Brussels (Belgium) on March 27, 2003; its digitization, production and online posting have been carried out by Radio Nizkor on February 22, 2004.

File name Real Media formatMp3 format Duration Language
gtmo Click on icon REAL PLAYER Click on icon MP3 01:00:32 ENG


Tecnical Data:

These audio documents have been posted in Real Audio and MP3 formats, their quality being equivalent to that of a CD-Rom.

If your connection speed does not allow you to listen to these files, we can send it to you by post in a CD-Rom. In this case, the production and shipment costs will be at your charge.

In order to do so, you may e-mail us at Editor Radio Nizkor.


You may find further information on the Iraq War and other 'state of exception' policies at the website of Equipo Nizkor


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